the new job
by banANNU
Summary: Lloyd can't hold up a job for more than a month, so what happens when Sheena tells him that she just quit her high-paying one and tells him he can only have it if he stays as long as she did... as a maid? Chaos ensues, smut in later chaps, zelloyd, Kruan. DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!
1. Chaptero uno

Title:

Written by: banANNU

Rating: M for later chapters, so I'm going to rate it M for future reference, though the smut won't be coming for a little while. I'm sorry. I don't write PWP… sorry. It goes by too fast and I love chapters. ^^ I only do one shots if they're that good.

Disclaimer:

banANNU: Hello my yaoi loving-fans! This will be my first—

Lloyd: -ENTERZ- What's yaoi?

banANNU: …

Lloyd: And why is my name mixed up with Zelos's like that?

banANNU: … uh… -sweat drop-… well, you see…

Lloyd: Fine, if you're not going to tell me, I'm going to go check up on some other fanfictions with the word "yaoi" in them. I'll be back after the story –EXITZ-

banANNU: I'm in for it later… nah. Anyway, this will be my first TOS fanfiction that I will be posting. I hope that you will enjoy it. =] Oh, by the way, if you don't know what yaoi is just by reading the numerous summaries that have it in them, it's guy/guy… but not just guy/guy… there's sex involved too ^^ If you don't support it, I suggest you terminate your mission here to read this story, turn back and read something else… please?

Kratos: -ENTERZ- You should be so ashamed.

banANNU: O_o KRA-CHAN! –GLOMPZ- Wanna do the disclaimer? –handz over a script-

Kratos: Fine… -sighz- The pokemon doesn't own TOS or any of its characters.

banANNU: Tell them why!^^

Kratos: Get off… -shovez- She doesn't own them because… WHAT?! I'm not reading this.

banANNU: -poutz-

Kratos: Long story short, she's not awesome enough to own any of Namco's creations. –smirkz-

banANNU: Hey!

Kratos: -thumbz up- Enjoy you perverts.

VARNING: Okay, for starters, if you didn't read the summary or the disclaimer, and you don't like yaoi, you deserve to be slapped. -_- You shouldn't just go into a story without reading what it's about. You should be ashamed if you did that! Anyway, I'm going to warn you now, there is some language here and there, suggestive themes, and smut in the later chapters. Just warning you now cause I'm nice like that. ^^ anyway, I know I'm taking up your valuable time [sorry], and I will stop….nnnnnn….now. ^^

ENJOY!

Chaptero Uno… Conditions

A certain brown haired boy was sitting on his bed, his ankle resting on his knee while reading through the newspaper. Currently, he was scanning over the comics, giving off a small chuckle every now and then. It wasn't until he came across a "Calvin and Hobbes" one that he let out a fit of hysterical laughter.

The door to his room swung open, almost making the previously laughing boy jump out of his boxers and drop the newspaper. As soon as his eyes met a pair that only differed from his because of the pissed off aura being emitted from them, he hastily flipped to the job section of the newspaper. A disapproving growl was heard from the older man that entered the room.

"Lloyd Irving," the redheaded man growled. "Was that the laughter that was caused by the comics section of the newspaper?"

The boy known as Lloyd swallowed nervously.

"No…," he responded softly, not making eye contact. "What would ever make you think that Kratos?"

"Because finding a simple job shouldn't be THAT funny," Kratos snarled. "And let me guess… it was the Calvin and Hobbes that set you off?"

The brunet cringed at the guess… seeing that it was one hundred percent correct. Lloyd hated it when his father did that to him. It was mean.

Lloyd sighed. "Well, how am I supposed to find a job whenever everything that they mention in here either doesn't pay well or just sucks?!"

It was Kratos's turn to sigh.

"That's just the way things are Lloyd. I'm sorry to break it to you, but until you get a real job and start to live on your own, you'll need to deal with what the newsprint has to offer," he explained, beginning to go into one of his all famous monologues. "Life isn't always all fun and games. Sometimes you just have to put up wi-… Hey! Are you even listening to me?!"

Once again, Lloyd was looking over the comics, obviously ignoring his father's words completely. That was when Kratos decided to stomp over to Lloyd and pick up the other half of the newspaper that Lloyd had discarded to smack the young brunet across the head. A swear escaped the boy's mouth.

"I'm sorry, were you actually saying something important?" Lloyd smirked, wincing slightly. Kratos stole the rest of the newspaper in one swift motion. "Hey! I was reading that!"

Without a word said to his son, he shoved the jobs section of the paper back to him. Kratos desperately wanted this lazy boy out of the house and actually doing something on the weekends and after school while earning money at the same time.

"Jeez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Lloyd growled.

"Actually, it was the couch because you made Noishe tear up my mattress after stuffing it with fucking beef strips! And yes, I woke up on the wrong side since you left a marshmallow-peanut butter sandwich on the side of the couch that I turned my head to!" Kratos roared as a response.

"_Oops…,_" Lloyd thought to himself.

"So you WILL be finding a job to work at after school and on weekends before you're allowed to leave this room, understood?! And you'll get the comics back after you show me the job that you've chosen!"

With all of that said and done, the boy's door was slammed shut. Lloyd grumbled a few unnecessary things under his breath as he, once again, looked over the 'help wanted' ads. This was going to take a little while.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Downstairs on the couch, Kratos was looking over the comics. Something about the 'Calvin and Hobbes' one had him a tad bit confused.

"… How the hell is a stuffed animal supposed to get in a tree and randomly dump a sack of fake snow on this crazy boy without falling out of the tree himself?" Kratos mumbled. "I don't understand ANY of this crap."

The newspaper was turned over.

"Now 'Charlie Brown'… That is something that we can all agree with," he smiled.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"God dammit! I fucking quit!" a black haired girl known as Sheena screamed, throwing a rather frilly apron to the ground.

The girl ran as far away as she possibly could from the mansion that she had just previously exited. Once she was sure that no one was following her, she pulled out a cell phone and pressed her first speed dial.

"Hey Lloyd," she smiled. "How are you doin'?"

An aggravated sigh was heard on Lloyd's part. Just from hearing that, she had a pretty good guess of what the answer was going to be. She felt a bit sorry for him.

"Kratos locked me up in my room and insists that I find a job before I can come out… again," he groaned through the phone.

While Sheena was walking and listening to every word that Lloyd was saying, she didn't notice that there was a small rock on the ground and it was right in the middle of her path. And the fact that she was in heels only made everything worse.

She tripped right over it and into a muddy ditch.

"Ahhh!" she screamed, her cell phone flying about five feet in front of her. "Shit! Not my best dress! This was fucking expensive!"

Even though the phone had flown far away from the cursing girl, Lloyd couldn't help but pick up that she was actually wearing a… dress? He had no ideas that she liked to wear things like that.

The girl pushed herself up out of the mud pit, giving anyone who was snickering at her a death glare… which did make them shut up pretty fast. Once out of the mud, she tried her best to get all of the wet dirt off of her.

"…na…"

Did someone say her name?

"Sh…a…"

Someone was calling her…

"D…it… eena… ick u… th… ne…!"

"Oops," Sheena said nervously, running over to her cell phone that had somehow managed to stay intact. "Sorry about that Lloyd. Something got in the way and made me trip."

"So you ruined your best dress!?" he laughed loudly, making a cherry blush spread across her face. "I had no idea that you wore dresses Sheena!"

Sheena's face reddened more with both embarrassment and fury. But it was true. The girl hardly ever wore anything that showed off her legs.

Though… Lloyd could've been nicer about the fact that she was currently wearing a dress. In fact, it had been about five minutes and the person on the other side of the phone only stopped to catch his breath once. A vein popped out on her head as she was waiting for Lloyd to cease his laughing.

"It's not that funny," she snarled venomously, trying to warn him.

"B-but, hehehehe… hahaha! Y-you in a ,hahahaha! … i-in a dr-dr-dress?!" More laughter was heard.

Okay, this was really pissing Sheena off… A LOT. In her anger, an idea popped into her head. Lloyd needed a job… and she just quit… An evil grin slid onto her face.

"Hey Lloyd… you need a job right?" Sheena asked her friend coolly. The laughter stopped instantly. "Well, I just quit mine. Would you be willing to take my place? It pays really good."

"How much is really good?" Lloyd questioned, taking the bait quite easily.

"Five hundred dollars an hour," Sheena responded.

Sheena could actually hear Lloyd drooling at the thought of so much money. She could even hear the saliva dripping onto the floor.

"Don't let that seep through to the bottom floor. Kratos will have your ass if it starts raining inside," she chuckled haughtily. "So do you think that you can wait a few more days for the next paper so that you can apply properly?" More dripping noises were heard. "Dammit Lloyd! Get a bucket or something!"

"Huh? What? Oh… Hold on…"

Lloyd left the phone for a few seconds as he wiped up all of the drool from the floor and on his bed. A small disgusted grimace came to Sheena's face as the sloppy saliva noises were heard from Lloyd's side of the phone.

"Okay, I'm done. What did you say after the five hundred…" There was a pause which was probably Lloyd licking his lips "… dollars a week."

"…Nothing really. Anyway, do you think you can wait a few more days for the next paper to come? My ex-boss will probably have put in a help wanted ad in the paper by then," she simply stated.

"Why wait? Is there any possible way that I could get the job earlier?" Lloyd queried, eagerness clearly written in his voice. "Cause, I mean, Kratos really wants me out of the house while making money. The sooner I get the job, the better."

For a split second, the thought _"Maybe I'm being a little too extreme on getting back at him for laughing at my dress"_ ran through her head, but that was instantly forgotten when his mocking laughter echoed through her mind again. She needed to get back at him for previous things he'd done to her anyway. This job, if he got it, would make up for all of it.

"Well, I do know one way that you'll be able to start tomorrow," she started.

"Really?! That's great! How do I-?!"

"On one condition… actually, make that two." At this point, the grin on Sheena's face was similar to that of a mad man's… and she was scaring everyone that was passing her by. "And only on these two conditions will you get the job."

"For Goddess's sake, tell me woman!" Lloyd shouted.

At the word "woman" in that tone of voice at the end of that sentence made the hair on Sheena's neck bristle. Lloyd knew very well that she absolutely LOATHED it when he called her that word like that.

Once Lloyd finished his sentence, he gasped, covered his mouth with one hand, and swore. When Sheena said nothing at his demand, he knew it was going to cost him dearly… and last time Lloyd checked, when you owed Sheena something, she would make it ten times more costly than she needed to.

"For that"- Lloyd cringed at the harshly scoffed words- "I'm only going to tell you one of the conditions. You'll hear the other one tomorrow."

That made Lloyd slap himself mentally. The other condition was probably REALLY important. But… for some reason, this punishment didn't seem to be all that devastating. Usually when Sheena got upset, she would kick his ass, make him do her homework, do her chores around her own house for a week, or turn the whole female student body at school against him. She HAD done worse, but Lloyd thought it'd be best not to remember those moments.

The fact that his "punishment" was only withholding information from him until the next day, which didn't SEEM that bad, kind of scared Lloyd. Then again… not being severely punished or scolded made him quite happy. That and he was going to be getting a real good paying job.

"Sorry… really sorry about that Sheena. It kind of slipped," he attempted to apologize.

"If you're truly sorry, you won't be doing it anymore!" she snapped at him. "Anyway, you'll only get the job tomorrow if you're willing to make a small bet with me."

Those words made Lloyd perk up. Lloyd loved making bets with Sheena since there was always an even chance that'd he'd win. And if you were the victor in one of her bets, the prizes were always good [which also meant that it would be bad for him if he lost since if she won, her reward would be just as good.]

"Of course! You know I'll take you on any day!" the brunet challenged, now standing in his room, still in only his boxers, and holding a fist up in the air.

"Excellent," she snickered. "Okay, I bet that you won't last at my job longer than I did… and that was three months, a week, and four days."

Suddenly, Lloyd wasn't so sure of himself anymore. The longest he'd lasted at a job was roughly three weeks. Thinking back on this made him think over the bet that he was about to take a little more carefully.

"Uhm," Lloyd said first after a moment of thought. Sheena could hear the nervousness being emitted from the other boy. "Well, uh, what exactly are the prizes?"

"If you win, you get half of the money I have left over. Let me remind you that's a little more that sixty-five, thousand dollars… so that's one hell of a deal on my end. But…" Lloyd always hated the 'but' part. "If you lose, I get all of your money that you have left over since you didn't make it as long as I did."

"_Whoa,"_ thought Lloyd. _"That's a lot of money. I… -sigh- I don't know if I can pull off three and a half months of work. But… I… I… I DO like money."_

Letting Lloyd think the bet over for a few moments, Sheena started walking home. She was going to need to get the first part of the second condition ready for him. She knew Lloyd was going to take her bet. He was a sucker for money.

Finally, Lloyd spoke up.

"I'll do it."

[Sheena: Bwahaha, you have activated my trap card!]

Sheena grinned at those three lovely words.

"There's no taking that back tomorrow," she stated, her house now in sight of her. "I'll be over at your house in about an hour and a half. Then I'll tell Kratos that you'll have a job by tomorrow."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Kratos was sitting on an arm chair with a laptop on top of his lap [LOL, "lap" top XD], looking at some recent assignments that were sent to him that he was going to need to work on next week. One assignment caught his attention before anything else did.

"PERVERT BURGLAR ROBS FIVE HOUSES… PLEASE HELP TO BRING THIS MAN TO JUSTICE."

If you haven't figured out, [which I'm sure you haven't cause I didn't give enough information about him… sorry] Kratos worked with the police. He wasn't an officer or anything… He only got the cases that they couldn't handle or when things got out of hand too quickly.

The front door was suddenly slammed open, making Kratos jump slightly. Having the pervert burglar assignment fresh in his mind, he quickly sat his laptop down and grabbed his sword. He walked over to the entrance of his house and relaxed as soon as he saw that it was only Sheena.

"Hey Kratos!" she smiled innocently at him. "I'm here to see Lloyd."

"Next time knock… and Lloyd is-…"

"I know, looking for a job…," she trailed off, thinking about Kratos's first comment. Then she looked down at his sword. "Uhm, just wondering… why do I HAVE to knock now? I've never knocked before. And why the hell do you have your sword with you?"

Kratos looked at Sheena, his sword, the door, Sheena again, his sword, Sheena, his sword… the door… Sheena… sword… Sheena… … and then finally sheathed his sword, a sweat drop forming on the girl's head.

"I… was just a little paranoid. That's all," Kratos sweat dropped as well.

"Right… anyway, I need to talk to Lloyd about a job opportunity." The redhead raised an eyebrow at the girl. "He'll be out of the house by tomorrow."

"Really?" Kratos asked, purely stunned.

"Mhmm. I called Lloyd earlier and he's willing to fill in for me at the job that I just quit." At those words, Kratos furrowed his eyebrows, which made Sheena laugh nervously. "Don't worry. By the end of this week, Lloyd will be able to pay for a new mattress."

A new mattress DID sound nice. In fact, a new mattress sounded VERY nice. Kratos liked the idea of a fresh mattress that didn't have Noishe hairs and food stains all over it. In fact, Kratos liked that idea so much that he gave Sheena the key to Lloyd's room without so much as giving a second thought as to how exactly Lloyd would be making the money for a NEW mattress.

"Thanks Kratos. I won't be too long."

With that said, Sheena disappeared up the stairs.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

-The Next Day-

Lloyd got into his best clothes… which was a red, long-sleeved, button up shirt, a black bowtie, black slacks… and a jean jacket. He knew it didn't look all that great with all the other clothes he had on, except for maybe the tennis shoes, but when he'd bought the outfit, he didn't have enough money to get the whole suit. It was going to have to do so… whatever.

The brunet walked over to the mirror and straightened out his bow tie before looking at it strangely. He then removed it from his shirt and opened the door to his room.

"Hey Kratos! You got a black tie?!" No response. "Kratos! I need a black tie!" Still no response. "Dammit Kratos! I NEED A-!"

Out of nowhere, Kratos appeared and stuffed a tie into Lloyd's mouth. It was seven o' clock on a Sunday. Kratos was NOT in the mood to have his son screaming when their rooms were right next to each other. He wanted to sleep.

"Ank oo…," Lloyd attempted. The only response that he received from the exhausted man was a low grunt as he trudged back to his room. Lloyd removed the tie from his mouth. "Okay, time to get this on."

After fumbling with the knot for a while, he straightened out his collar and looked into the mirror. A small grin came to his face as he winked at himself and made a pose.

"Hey there sexy beast," he chuckled.

His phone went off. Groaning at the fact that he hardly started his daily ritual of flirting with himself, he pulled his phone out of his pocket to see who was interrupting him. It was Sheena.

"Hey Sheena," he said into the phone first. "Why are you calling so early? I thought that I didn't have to be over at your house until twelve."

A chuckle was heard on the other side of the line. This made Lloyd frown deeply. How in the world did she sound so awake when it was only seven ten in the morning? He'd known Sheena long enough to know that she was NOT a morning person.

"I knew that you would be up making questionable comments at your reflection, so I thought that I'd call and talk." That didn't explain anything. "So, what are you wearing?"

This was strange. Well, most conversations he had with his friends were peculiar, but never had any of them asked what clothes he was wearing. Maybe a girlfriend would here and there, but never a normal friend… and especially not Sheena.

"Clothes?" he replied, a tad unsure of himself.

"What kind of clothes you idiot!" she snapped.

"… Clothes that you wear on your body?" Lloyd obviously didn't know where the hell this conversation was going. "Are you okay Sheena?"

"I SHOULD BE THE ONE ASKING YOU THAT!" she screamed. Well, now he knew it was Sheena. She was also a bit short-tempered in the mornings. "I'm asking you this so that I can tell you if what you're wearing is appropriate for your, hopefully, new job!"

"Oh," was all Lloyd had to say to that.

"'Oh' indeed. Now, tell me what you've got on," she demanded.

"Well," Lloyd began, clearing his throat proudly, "I've got a red shirt, button up with long sleeves… the buttons are black by the way… black slacks and a black tie."

For a while, silence was the only thing exchanged between the two teens. Hearing nothing was making Lloyd a little uneasy. Was what he was wearing not good enough for the job? This was the nicest outfit that he had… minus the jacket and tennis shoes of course.

Lloyd decided to speak up and ask, unable to take the silence anymore.

"So, is that acceptable?" he questioned to the still silent girl. A minute after he'd asked the question, Sheena remained speechless. "Sheena… it would be awesome if you could say something."

"As nice as that sounds, I'm afraid that's not even close to the attire that you'll need to be wearing," she finally replied. Lloyd wasn't entirely sure, but for a second, he thought that he heard Sheena giggling.

"I'm sorry to say that this is the nicest outfit I've got, so, uhm… do I need to make a downgrade or something?" he sighed, beginning to remove his slacks.

This time, Sheena was rather quick to answer.

"No, but there's no need to worry. I've got all the outfits you'll need for a while. My ex-boss always liked different styles."

"Really? So it's not some sort of lame, boring dress code or uniform?" Lloyd queried excitedly.

"You could say that… but you can definitely tell that there's a pattern." Once again, Lloyd thought he heard Sheena giggling. What was she thinking? "Anyway, I'm actually still a little tired." A yawn was heard to prove her previous statement. "I'm going to need to call my ex-boss and tell him you'll be at work at one o' clock sharp… and after that, I'm taking a nap."

He knew it. Sheena had probably forced herself to get up so she could interrupt Lloyd's daily ritual. Though, knowing she was going to supply him with his clothes was a good thing to know.

"Okay, sleep well then," he smiled, not knowing that he'd made her blush slightly.

"O-okay… Bye," she stammered.

"Bye."

Both teens hung up their cell phones. Lloyd's brown eyes looked over to the mirror, a sexy grin coming onto his face as he struck another pose.

"Now, where were we?"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Lloyd had already left to go to Sheena's house, so now Kratos was home alone. Well, not really alone. He had Noishe with him, but ever since the beef jerky incident, he preferred to keep him outside. So, since he was home alone [he just wanted to say it that way –sweat drop-], he decided that his first task to do that day was make a marshmallow peanut-butter sandwich. He had to admit, ever since he rolled over onto Lloyd's version of the sandwich and got a face full of it… it was rather tasty.

"Peanut butter… peanut butter…," he chanted over and over again, as if by doing that would make the jar suddenly pop up. He was kind of hoping for that actually. "Peanut butter… peanut… butter."

He opened a cabinet, crossing his fingers, hoping that it would be there. Nothing. Seeing that, he kept on chanting the name, getting more lazy and discouraged every time he would say it.

Then, his sensitive ears heard the front door open. Lloyd had probably forgotten something, which wasn't unheard of on his first day of work. Since Lloyd was here though, he thought it'd be safe to ask him something…

"Lloyd, do you know where the peanut butter is? I can't seem to find it anywhere," he called out, hoping Lloyd would hear him. When silence was his answer, Kratos started to get a little paranoid. "Lloyd?"

His hands fumbled to find his sword, which was around his hips, which was where it normally stayed unless he was sleeping [he wanted no more holes in his mattress], or if someone he was doing a job for didn't like it. In those situations, he'd put it in a nearby room in case something or someone decided to attack their meeting place.

When he finally got his hands on the hilt of his sword, he unsheathed it. Then, he walked around, his eyes scanning over everything in every room he entered while hiding himself in case the burglar had a gun.

So far, he'd encountered no one… so maybe Lloyd just didn't close the door all the way. But he was going to look all over the house, just in case he was wrong.

After going through each floor rather thoroughly, he put his sword back again, walked downstairs, and locked the door after he closed it. He didn't need to be spooked by that damned door again. All he wanted was his sandwich.

"Okay… time to find that peanut butter…"

Kratos was walking back into the kitchen to search for the brown jar, but then was suddenly tackled to the ground from behind. He let out a cry of surprise as his hands were tied behind his back and he was flipped over to come face to face with a masked man. All he could see was his eyes, his mouth, and his hair since everything else was wrapped up in a black cloth.

"Hey Kratos…," he trailed off, a smile coming to his face.

The man then grabbed the sides of Kratos's face and started to pull him up into a kiss. Kratos's eyes widened as he attempted to pull away, but it was to no avail. Since he couldn't do much of anything else, he did the only other thing that he could do.

Scream.

"NOOOO!"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Kratos lunged forward in bed, sweat making his hair stick to his skin. [wow, he gets worked up fast, LOL] He was still screaming the last word he'd said in his dream while his arms were wrapped tightly around his torso.

Once he realized that he was still in bed and no one was pinning him down, he stopped screaming. He felt all over his body to make sure that he didn't have any missing clothes. Yep, everything was still there. He sighed, relieved.

This was when Lloyd peeked his head into Kratos's room, a concerned look painted all over his face. Kratos tried to wave him off, but Lloyd didn't look like he was going to leave until he said something.

"Are you okay, Kratos?" Lloyd asked, still looking a bit worried about his father. "Bad dream or something?"

"… Yeah" was his answer. "I'll be okay though. What time is it?"

"Eleven thirty. I'm leaving to go to Sheena's now." Lloyd walked off, but then came back. "Are you sure that you're going to be okay?" Kratos nodded. "Okay then. I'll be leaving."

Again, Lloyd walked off, but this time, Kratos stopped him.

"Lloyd!" Footsteps were heard coming back to the room. His son looked at him, seeming slightly agitated. "Be sure to lock the door…"

"Okay, is that all?" Lloyd snorted.

"… Do you know where the peanut butter is?"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"My dad is such a weirdo," Lloyd growled, rubbing the sides of his head. "I just hope that Sheena's going to be nicer and not confuse me as much. I don't think that I can take much more of this craziness in one day."

His friend's house was now in view. Lloyd picked up the pace and hurried over to the front door. He was in tennis shoes, so he wasn't too worried about really ruining anything.

It was a nice day; the sky was cloudless, so the sun beat down gently and there was a soft, cold breeze to counter act the heat from the sun. The flowers were more colorful than usual and the trees were a bright green. Lloyd could almost hear them screaming "We are trees! Look at us! Marvel in our wonderfully green leaves!"

It was definitely spring.

Lloyd reached Sheena's door and knocked on it to warn the girl that he was there. He heard her quick, light footsteps coming downstairs to unlock the door and open it. She greeted him with a smile and a friendly "Hello, how are you doing?" and then invited him in.

"You look good today Sheena," Lloyd mentioned, deciding to get on her good side for the day.

Sheena was wearing a tank top with a short purple jacket that was left unzipped. Around her waist was her trademark pink bow with the ribbons that floated gracefully behind her and she was wearing a pair of khakis that had a small slit on each side of them. From the ankles up were decorative white bandages with some Chinese characters written on them. And on her feet were a pair of black flats. Well, he wasn't lying. She did look good.

"Thank you Lloyd," she said, a faint pick coming to her cheeks. "It's too bad that you can't wear that because you do too."

A prideful grin plastered itself onto his face as he thanked her and allowed her to lead him up the stairs. When they were halfway up, Sheena stopped, making Lloyd stop as well.

"Once we get to my room, there's no turning back on out bet." The brunet noticed that her face was completely serious. This was a little nerve-wracking. "This is your last chance to change your mind."

"Is there something that you're not telling me?" he questioned, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Yes, but it will be explained in my room when I tell you the second condition." That's right! Lloyd had completely forgotten that there was a second part to the conditions. "But you won't hear it if you don't take the bet."

Now Lloyd was rather curious. He wanted to hear the second condition so that he could get the job early, but he was a bit nervous as well, especially since his friend was acting so serious. He was a little torn on the decision.

The deciding factor on his answer was the thought of having over a thousand dollars by the end of the day. It was a greedy decision, but a decision nonetheless.

"I'm still taking that bet," Lloyd stated.

A small smirk came onto Sheena's face. Lloyd's eyes widened as she continues up the stairs. The last time she'd smiled like that, he was in for one hell of a surprise.

"If you wish," she cackled.

CACKLED?! Lloyd was freaking out now. Something wasn't right… Sheena wasn't one to cackle. Maybe a light chuckle here and there, but never a cackle…. But he'd already made his choice clear. According to Sheena, there was no going back. He knew he was screwed now.

"Okay," Sheena grabbed the doorknob. "The second condition is…"

The door opened.

All the color drained from Lloyd's face as Sheena walked into her room and grabbed a black and red, frilly, thigh-long, poofy shouldered, lacey, tight… and any other girly adjectives that could've possibly described the… maid's dress she was holding up. The smirk on her face widened as she pulled out some… black and red pantyhose and black, peek-a-boo toed high heels. Lloyd swallowed as she spoke up.

"You are to wear this, since you'll be working as a maid. And don't worry, I have plenty more. I just need more time to make the chest area more fitting," she grinned. "Oh, and you'll need to be convincing… because Zelos is a ladies man… and WILL sue you if he finds out you're a guy."

-End Chaptero Uno-

banANNU: YAY! We get to see Lloyd in a dress! XD

Jazzimon: -ENTERZ- Hey! Where the hell was I at the beginning of this!? -smackz banANNU upside the head-

banANNU: Ow… Well, you see…

Lloyd: -ENTERZ- WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU PUTTING ME IN A YAOI FAN FICTION?! –smackz

banANNU up the other side of the head-

banANNU: -tearz up- hey…

Kratos: … You deserved it…

banANNU: -pointz at Kra-chan- YOU!

Kratos: O_o'

banANNU: Make another comment like that, and I'll make your dreams a reality!

Lloyd and Jazzimon: -_-'

Kratos: You wouldn't…

banANNU: I'm the author, so I would –grinz-

Kratos: You're terrible… -_-

banANNU: -grinz wider-

Jazzimon: -sighz- Tell her something she doesn't know. Anyway, we hope that you enjoyed the first chapter. Please review so that we can post more chapters. ^_^

Lloyd: Don't do it! You'll activate her trap card!

banANNU: And let's see… in the next chapter, make Zelos pin him down and…

Lloyd: NOOO! I take it back! Review, review, REVIEW!

banANNU: I thought as much.


	2. Chaptero doso

Written by: banANNU

Rating: Yeah, I already told you that it was going to be M…

Disclaimer:

banANNU: YAY! Chapter two! –balancez a Zack plushie which is actually a fat black cat named Zack on head-

Jazzimon: … What the fuck are you doing?

banANNU: -fallz over- HAH?! Where'd you come from?!

Jazzimon: -smirkz- You didn't actually think that you were going to do this without me again, did you???

banANNU: -sweat drop-

Zelos and Lloyd: -ENTER-

banANNU: Oh look, the stars of the fic are here! –runz over to hide behind Zelos-

Lloyd: They're the ones.

Zelos: -lookz at banANNU and Jazzimon- They don't look like they would make a hardcore yaoi fanfiction with us in it.

Lloyd: LOOK AT THE PAIRING NAME! IT'S ZELLOYD!

Zelos: … Well, at the very least, I'll be on top.- grinz-

Lloyd: WHAT?!

Zelos: Well, typically, you put the dominant's name in the relationship first… so, if they ever do get around to writing the nasty, I'll be the one fu—

Kratos: -ENTERZ- -throwz a random bar of soap at Zelos- watch it.

Zelos: OW!

Lloyd: How can you possibly be dominant?! You look a hell of a whole lot more like a girl than I do! What is the meaning of this!?

Jazzimon: -ignoring Lloyd's rant, walks over to Kratos- My pokemon wants you to read the disclaimer again. –handz over script- It's the same as yesterday, so there should be no problem.

Kratos: …….. no….. –walkz out-

Lloyd:… and further more [continued rant], she doesn't even own Tales of Symphonia, no less us, so she shouldn't even be writing this crap in the first place!

banANNU: … Does that count as a disclaimer?

Jazzimon: I don't know, but this is running long. –to readers- enjoy Chaptero Doso!

VARNING: yeah… It's a yaoi. I hope you read the first chapter and got the idea for future reference. I mean, come one, Lloyd's got to wear a DRESS for Zelos. How suggestive can you get without just saying it?! I mean, I'm rating this M for later chapters… what do you think they'll be doing??? Saying "fuck" the whole time? No… They'll be doing it. That's right. Oh, yeah. There's a bit of language, so if you don't like that either, then go away. Much love

---the Author

ENJOY!

Chaptero Doso

"No, I am NOT wearing that," Lloyd said as soon as he could find the words to. "I thought that you were giving me a job that both guys and girls could do!"

"It's too late… We've already made the deal," Sheena grinned. "Now, come over here so I can see just how well this fits on you."

Lloyd was going to attempt at making a break for it. He didn't like the way she was fluffing up the dress. Unfortunately for him though, Sheena had caught on to Lloyd's little escape plan before he'd even put thought about thinking about it. Once she saw her friend take a step back, she put her fingers to her mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle.

A low, threatening growl was heard almost instantly behind Lloyd, which made him turn around and look down. The source of the hostile noise was Corrine, Sheena's mutt of a dog no one could identify. Usually, Corrine was a mild mannered dog that never showed he had a mean bone in his body… so Lloyd just laughed.

"Hey there Corrine," he chuckled. "I'm going to need to get going, so you'll need to be moving out of my way."

He attempted to step over the dog, but the small ball of fur jumped up and latched itself onto his heel. Lloyd's eyes widened as he tried to, at first, gently fling the dog off of his foot. When that didn't work, he tried to kick him off more roughly, resulting in Corrine only hanging on tighter. And when THAT didn't work, he tried to bend down and pull him off with his hands.

Corrine then attached himself to his hand. Previously, Sheena had been laughing pretty hard, but when Lloyd actually let out a small cry of pain, she stopped and when over to grab the dog and get him off of her friend.

"Release!" she demanded, making the dog let go of Lloyd's now slightly swollen hand. "Now go and get him some bandages."

Just like the dog understood her, he ran off, leaving Lloyd to glare butcher knives into Sheena. It was a good thing Lloyd's glare couldn't hurt her physically. Boy, if looks could kill, Sheena would be a bloody mess of clothes and bones on the floor.

"Sorry about that Lloyd. I'm just making sure that you don't go back on our deal." The brunet's cheeks puffed up angrily while Sheena only shrugged her shoulders lazily. "Oh come on! You have to admit that Zelos pays pretty good."

"Wait… wait a second… Zelos Wilder? That rich redheaded player?! At our school?!" Lloyd snapped.

"…Maybe…"

"Sheena, he could recognize me from school! My cover could be blown if he sees me there and recognizes me!" Sheena started snickering, which made Lloyd's frown curl downwards even more. "What's so fucking funny?!"

"Oh, I'm sure that you don't have to worry about that." Lloyd raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Trust me. All you have to make sure not to do is let him catch you peeing standing up while you're working for him. As long as you do that, you'll be fine."

Lloyd heaved out a heavy sigh, still undecided on whether or not he should run out of the house while Corrine was away. Then again, Sheena could be rather scary and violent if she was pushed to it. Lloyd decided to stay.

…He wanted to walk out of the house without anymore bruises or cuts… even if it had to be done in a dress…

Corrine's nails could be heard clicking on the hardwood floor as he returned to the room, his mouth full of bandages. He bounced over to his owner and placed them in her hands. She rewarded him with a pat on the head.

"Okay, get over here so that I can wrap up your hand," Sheena demanded. Another sigh escaped Lloyd's mouth as he slowly dragged his feet over to her. "I'd better tell you now… even though we're bandaging you up, make sure to hide your hand in the sleeves of your jacket. Zelos is a little bit of a freak on his employees getting hurt…"

"What do you mean by that?" Lloyd inquired, tilting his head to the side just slightly.

Sheena shook her head as she said, "Just don't let him see your hand. If you want to keep your dignity, just don't… okay?"

"Fine," Lloyd pouted.

After some time of wrapping his hand just right, Sheena got up and walked over to the dress. Lloyd hung his head down past his shoulders. He was sure that there'd be no dignity left to spare after he was put into that… THING.

"Time to change," Sheena grinned.

"You will wait outside," the brunet demanded. "I am perfectly capable of changing myself thank you."

"I know, the girl smiled as she took her place out in the hallway. "But I will be helping you with your make up."

With that all said and done, Lloyd slammed the door shut after her and locked it. He muttered a "great" as he walked over to the dress to get changed. This was going to be the most humiliating day of his life… and Sheena was never going to let him live it down.

EVER.

* * *

-30 minutes of "pain" later…-

"There, that wasn't so bad now was it?" Sheena grinned, finishing up with the red eye shadow. "Now go practice walking in those heels in the light so I can get a better look at you."

Groaning loudly so that he could let the girl know he was upset about the demand, Lloyd shakily stepped over to the window. This let the light spill out onto the brunet's surprisingly girly features.

Sheena pouted slightly as she watched him clumsily walk around. If he had any breasts going for him, his body would be as good as or even better than hers. She had to admit that she was just a tad jealous. Then she seemed to remember for some odd reason that when she had worn the dress that it didn't quite grip her body like it did his.

"It looks great on you," the girl smiled, throwing that though aside. One more groan was heard from Lloyd. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult to my manhood," he whined. Sheena only chuckled at his comment. "Stop laughing at me!"

"Sorry… Oh! Before I forget, I'm going to have to pull your hair into pigtails." Lloyd's eyes widened. "You didn't really think that you were going to Zelos's house with your hair looking like THAT??" No response. "Honestly, boys are so stupid."

Before Lloyd could do so much as say anything to defend himself and his fellow mankind, Sheena managed to pull the right half of Lloyd's hair into a small pigtail. And before he could make any cries of protest, Sheena was finished with the other side of his hair.

"Let's put two bows on them and then we'll be all ready to leave to go to Zelos's," she beamed. Lloyd gave up. At this point, there was no reason to fight back.

Swift hands tied the two red and black ribbons onto the pigtails into two perfect little bows. Proud of herself, she tapped her right index finger to a small bell that hung off of the bows. All Lloyd could do was sigh miserably. He prayed to Martel that he could keep this job longer than Sheena had.

He needed a miracle.

-At Zelos's house-

Zelos : -cough-

-… a-hem… sorry, mansion…-

Zelos: -smilz happily-

A happy looking redhead stood in front of his mirror, flossing his teeth, making sure he looked absolutely perfect for his new employee. She was due to be over at any minute now, so hw as taking these last few minutes to make sure that everything was flawless.

"Pearly white teeth… check… brushed red hair that's ever so slightly askew… check… contacts to show off my dazzling blue eyes… check… dashing smile… check of course! And lastly, deodorant…"-the man lifted up his arm to take a quick sniff of the underlying contents-"…"-he coughed-"…glad I checked."

The redhead grabbed a tube of deodorant and smeared it under his arms. He then grabbed a bottle of Cruxis cologne and sprayed it all over himself. That in itself took up five minutes as well as half of the bottle.

"Okay, I do believe that I am ready," he cat-grinned, giving his reflection a thumbs up. "Oh, Zelos, I must admit, you are smooth."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, snapping Zelos out of his egotistical funk. He walked out of his room to peer over his balcony to the front door. Sebastian, the butler opened the door to reveal Sheena, along with someone Zelos wasn't familiar with.

As Sebastian invited both girls in, Zelos stared at the more unfamiliar female, taking in many eyefuls at a time. He grinned at the deep red blush blush painted on her face as her nervous brown eyes glanced around the surrounding area. When large brown eyes met slim blue, Zelos Wilder's grin widened even more.

"Sir, it appears your new maid is here," Sebastian spoke up.

"I do believe I can see that Sebastian." Zelos began walking down the stairs, his right hand sliding down the railing. "It's a pleasure to meet you…"

"Dolly," Sheena spoke up for the girl quickly.

Zelos turned to the girl who had spoken up and gave her a small scowl. He had wanted to hear the other girl's voice since he knew very well that she was capable of speaking. He was also rather curious as to how she sounded.

"So… Sheena. I'm assuming that you only came to pick up your paycheck?" he questioned at last, pulling out a small checkbook after he took a quick glance at "Dolly's" legs.

"That, and to make sure that you treat my friend with more respect than you did with me," she snorted. Zelos snickered some as he tore out a check and handed it to Sheena. "What was the laugh for?"

"Sebastian, if you would please escort Ms. Fujibayashi out, I'd like to get Dolly started with the chores," the redhead spoke to the butler.

"Zelos, I WILL find out if you do anything bad to her, you hear me?!" Sheena shot at him as she let Sebastian take her outside. "Good luck Dolly!"

Once Sheena was out of the mansion, Zelos hastily walked over to the smaller brunet to get a better look at her. He leaned in real close to "Dolly's" neck and took in a quick whiff of air.

"Mmm, vanilla… my favorite." Zelos grabbed a hand, gently massaging it. "Nice long, slender hands… those will definitely come in handy." "Dolly" blushed, pulling the hand away from him his. "You know, I haven't heard you say anything since you've walked in."

"I-I'm sorry s-sir…," she trailed off.

Zelos smiled at how those words came out of that lip glossed mouth. He felt the sudden desire to reach out and touch the lips, but he held back the urge. Sheena would probably break off the fingers that had touched her friend.

"It's quite alright. And there's no need for formalities. You may call me Zelos, hunny." Zelos grabbed one of "Dolly's" hands and started to lead her up the stairs. "Let me show you around."

Out of nowhere, a growling stomach was heard… a very LOUD stomach at that. Zelos paused, midstep, to look down at Dolly. After her blush reddened, Zelos chuckled lightly and turned to Sebastian.

"Hey, Sebastian, I believe this silly little girl here forgot to eat lunch," he called to him. "Could you make a quick lunch for her?"

"Of course Master Zelos."

Little did Zelos know, this "silly little girl" was really Lloyd, who had been too caught up in how to put on panties to eat anything. He really hoped that his overwhelming appetite wouldn't cause any suspicions with Zelos…

-up in Zelos's room-

"While we're waiting for Sebastian to whip something up, I wanted to show you my room." Zelos led Lloyd further into his room and released the hand he'd been holding to show off his belongings more. "This is my closet that contains over one thousand different outfits." He walked over to a dresser. "This is my dresser that holds my socks, swimsuits, pajamas, and underwear, in that order from top to bottom. That's just so you know where everything goes when you're putting my laundry away. The closet is for another day." Zelos walked over to his bed. "This is my bed"—he grabbed 'Dolly' and pulled her closer to it—"which is for a good nights rest and love-making."

Lloyd blushed madly as he shoved himself away from the now grinning redhead. He had always known that Zelos was a player, but he had never quite realized the perverted side to him.

"… And this is my desk, which can also be used for love-making if the bed is too far away." The redhead sat on the edge of the desktop and pat his hand on it. "It can be rather comfy you know."

"I… I think I'll just stand, thank you," he told Zelos who kept on grinning. "Maybe you could show me around your house a little bit more?"

"Eager now, are we?" Zelos jumped off of his desk and walked over to Lloyd. "Before we move on to the rest of the house, I'd like to show you my bathroom.

As soon as Lloyd stepped in, he eyes landed and locked on to a collage of colognes. He made a rather girlish squeal, which was in character, luckily for him.

Quite curious as to why that particular noise was made, he looked at what 'Dolly' was looking at. What his vision crossed only confused him even more. Why would such a petite looking girl be interested in such manly colognes?

"Oh my goddess! These are all limited edition Cruxis colognes! Oh, and these are all of the Martel's Man collection! And these are…" Lloyd paused when he noticed that Zelos was looking at him funny. "Oh, uhm…"

"You like all of those scents?" the redhead asked, quite baffled.

"Yeah… could… could I have one or… two or… a few?" he asked, batting his eyelashes the best that he could.

"…To wear?"

Lloyd's eyes widened. Why couldn't he have kept his big mouth shut? Now he had to think of an excuse as to why he had asked for the colognes. Then, an idea came to him.

"N-not for me… for my boyfriend." Lloyd saw Zelos's eye twitch. "You see, I really like my boyfriend to smell good."

"What's his name?"

"Huh?"

"I said, 'What's his name?'"

He replied with the first name that came to his mind. Seeing Zelos just a little pissed was actually a tad scary.

"Lloyd Irving," he responded. He found it slightly odd saying his own name as a response to who he was going out with. "We've been dating for almost a year now."

Zelos's frown only deepened after that sentence was said. He then closed his eyes and sighed, grabbing about five or six different colognes and setting them off to the side.

"You can pick these up when you're ready to leave. But, before we go anywhere else…" Zelos pinned the boy to the back of the door to the bathroom, slamming it shut. "I don't care how great he is, I don't care to hear about my employees love lives, especially if they're my female workers." Lloyd swallowed at the intense hatred in the other's eyes. "I'm not too fond of it to tell you the truth, and I don't want to hear anything about him coming out of such a lovely mouth that's working for me, understood?"

Swallowing again, the brunet nodded his head slowly up and down, suppressing a small squeak from escaping his mouth. Lloyd broke eye contact purely out of nervousness and didn't watch what Zelos's hands were doing.

That's when Lloyd suddenly felt a small pressure on his chest. His eyes glanced down to see what exactly was going on. Zelos had placed both of his hands on the front of his chest, and Lloyd saw a small grin on his face once again. At first, the action was completely harmless to Lloyd… but when he remembered that he was supposed to be playing the role of a girl…

"W-what are you doing?!" he squealed, ducking down to the ground so Zelos's hands were out of his reach for the time being.

The first expression that Lloyd noticed on Zelos's face was more of a blank one than one of shock or of pleasure. But after a moment, that trademark grin of his slid slowly on to his face and he looked down at his maid. Though, before he could speak, a slight knocking came to the door.

"Master Zelos, I just wanted to come up to tell you that the sandwiches are done," came Sebastian's voice. "I certainly hope you aren't doing anything too indecent with Dolly already sir."

Not wanting the butler to think anything badly of him already, Lloyd quickly opened the door to let the other know that nothing serious was going on. That was when he noticed a small smile appear under the butler's mustache.

"No, we're sorry sir," Lloyd apologized, trying to sound as sincere as he possibly could. "The door just closed behind us on our way in. We didn't mean to trouble you sir."

Sebastian nodded and turned to his master.

"I very much like this girl, Master Zelos. I hope that you don't make her too angry and want to quit like all of the other maids have done."

With that said and done, Sebastian walked neatly out of the room, and surely downstairs into the kitchen. Lloyd wanted to follow, but a hand grabbed his arm and yanked him backwards so that he couldn't exit the room.

He could feel himself being brought back against Zelos's chest and breathing was soon tickling his ear.

"I was just checking to see how much you had." Zelos paused, thinking his words through carefully. "There wasn't much there, but I definitely felt something. I'm sure that they'll grow in eventually."

Zelos then let go of Lloyd and walked in front of him to help lead him downstairs. That was when his hands reached up to his chest and felt all over it. Last time he had checked, which wasn't that long ago, there wasn't ANYTHING there. When his hands felt the flat of his chest, he sighed with great relief. Still nothing. Maybe Zelos had said something about the small bra that Sheena had forced him to wear because there was certainly nothing else there.

Laughter that didn't belong to Lloyd filled the room, making the brunet look up. Zelos was having a laughing fit right next to his bed which he was using to support himself and keep from falling over. A pinkish tinge came to Lloyd's face as he realized what he was laughing at.

"Oh hunny," he said, still laughing quite a bit. "You are so innocent…" Lloyd's cheeks flushed more. "It's absolutely adorable."

Lloyd walked into the room, hoping that he could just get by with that one and the other would let him, but he was wrong. A strong yet slender hand grabbed his and pulled him away from the exit he desperately wanted to go through. Soon, all he could see was red and blue.

"You're so pretty…," Zelos trailed, closing the distance from his and Lloyd's faces.

Thinking only on impulse, Lloyd immediately dropped to the ground to avoid the connection that they would've been sharing. He then tried to move to the side and make a hasty retreat, but that proved to be rather difficult in three inch, as he called them, hooker heels. So, instead of making that get away he wanted, he stumbled to his knees and Zelos caught him. His shoulder was then grabbed and pushed back against the side of the bed. There was no escaping now, so quick thinking was needed.

"I-I-I've never had my first kiss!" Dolly suddenly outburst.

Zelos paused his advancement and stared at the being in front of him. Lloyd heaved out a sigh and slunk down all the way to the ground. Had he said that any later, there was a pretty good chance he would've lost his first kiss to someone of the same gender as his own.

There was a long, slightly awkward silence that followed as Lloyd just stared at the other man in front of him. It suddenly hit him that he might've made a mistake in saying that…

"You mean to tell me that you've been dating this Lloyd Irving for almost a year now," Zelos started, "and you've never kissed him?"

"I, uh…" Blue eyes watched brown suspiciously. "Yes sir." Lloyd looked to the ground, trying his best to look like he was sad about the whole event. "We go pretty slow in our relationship. We don't want to rush anything so it makes us both feel safer."

It was a god awful lie that just about the stupidest of people could see through in an instant. He was probably just about found out and was going to get sued right then and there, but much to Lloyd's surprise, Zelos actually looked sympathetic.

"I see," he said softly.

"I just want to share it with someone special. You know, my first kiss," Lloyd continued. It wasn't like he was lying about that, but he still felt a pang of guilt for having to lie about dating himself.

Zelos got up from the ground and offered out a hand to help the other to their feet. Somewhat shocked, but not wanting to show it, Lloyd accepted the help up and took the hand. Both now on their feet, Lloyd thought maybe NOW he could go downstairs and have his sandwich but again, he was cut off but, no surprise to him, the same man, except this time, it was in a hug.

"You may not have had that first kiss yet, but I promise you that it will be the most magical thing you've ever experienced." Zelos then got in real close to the maid's ear. "I won't let anyone else but me have it by the way. I know you're dating someone now, but I will make you mine soon enough."

The redhead brushed his tongue ever so lightly over the shell of Lloyd's ear making a high-pitched moan escape his throat. This made Zelos laugh a little bit as he pulled away from him and sat on his own bed to watch "Dolly" blush madly.

"_Did… Did I just… m… MOAN??_" Lloyd thought to himself. "_No way… No way… No fucking way! I don't moan! I'm a fucking man for crying out loud! I… he…_"

"You're allowed to go downstairs now. I just wanted to let you know that little bit of information," Zelos said, smirking and waving Lloyd off to the door. Lloyd, still bright red, nodded and made a hasty exit. "This one shall be fun to play with… more fun than any of the other maids I've had before I do believe." His smirk faded some. "I'll need to meet this… Lloyd later… Being friends with him isn't that bad of an idea."

Zelos then stood up off of his bed and walked out to look down the balcony. Sebastian was just now leading "Dolly" into the kitchen. He smiled and sighed.

"She's absolutely adorable. Shame that I can't have her just yet…"

-Back at home-

Kratos had now made his fifty-third round through the house, sword at hand and a peanut butter-marshmallow sandwich in the other. This was his seventh sandwich… and would be his last of the day. There was now no peanut butter left for an eighth. But anyways, back to Kratos checking his own house like a madman.

He had received an e-mail from his boss about the pervert burglar that was somewhat disturbing in his point of view. Well, who wouldn't freak out when told that the last house that a pervert burglar had broken into was only nine houses down from yours? Obviously, Kratos was in the category to freak out to the max.

The man was turning into his own room when a sudden, loud, and obnoxious ring went off. For a moment, Kratos swung his sword at complete random, knocking some things over in the process, until he realized that it was just his cellphone. Sighing quite relieved, he answered.

"Kratos Aurion," he said upon answering.

"Hey Kratos!" A frown came to his mouth as he recognized the voice. Why hadn't he looked at the caller ID before answering, no one will ever know. "It's me, Kandee! You remember? Of course you do! We just talked last week!"

"Yes, I do believe I remember—…"

"Oh! And Asaria is here too!" Kandee yelled. He heard another squeal in the background. "You heard her right? Yeah, she's here too!"

Oh how Kratos wished he didn't pick up the phone. Now he had to talk to these two girls, which was something he always tried to avoid since they were psychotically crazy.

"So, anyhow, you've heard about that pervert burglar right?" Kandee asked randomly. Great, bow they were going to talk about wha he was worrying his head off over and freak out even more.

"Yes, Kandee, I have. I work with the police, remember?" he sighed, finally loosening up enough to sit down in a nearby chair. "I think that I, of all people, would know about it."

There was a momentary pause as he listened to Kandee and Asaria argue about how he would've known. Apparently, Kandee owed Asaria a little bit of money. What crazy girls with their even crazier bets and deals.

"Moving on, the burglar broke into the guy's house that lives across the street from us. "Kratos already knew about this, but agreed like he didn't know anyway. "When we first heard about it, we were a little bit freaked out." Asaria made a comment in the background. "I was NOT crying!"

"Look, Kandee, I'm really busy right now, If you guys are really worried about anything, just lock your doors and close all your windows and blinds. You'll be fine," he said to them, hoping to soon be left alone. "I really need too--…"

"Oh we aren't worried anymore." That made Kratos pause curiously. Had someone gotten him already? "The burglar doesn't go into girl's houses." What did she mean by that? "He only breaks into single guy's houses."

Kratos almost dropped his phone. That couldn't have been true. Guys liked girls right? He wouldn't put time into study who lived in a house to find out…

"Helloooooo??? Kratooos!!! Are you there?!" Kandee wailed into the phone.

"Sorry, but the burglar is a guy. Why wouldn't he break into girl's houses?" He had a bad feeling he was going to regret asking that question. "I mean, guys like girls, so there should be no reason for him to break into a single man's house."

"Not if you're gay! Silly Kratos! Weren't you informed that the only houses that have been broken into belong to men?" Kandee asked. He may not have been able to see her, but Kratos knew full well she was smirking at him on the other end of the line for knowing something that he didn't know for once. "I thought you worked with the police, Kratos."

There was a sudden knock at the door making Kratos hang up the phone to grab his sword and somewhat hide behind the wall that went into the living room. The door was knocked on two more times before the bell rang. Not particularly wanting to open the door, he reluctantly walked over to look out the peephole.

When he saw who it was, he immediately sheathed his sword, unlocked the door and opened it. He couldn't not open it for his best friend that also happened to be his boss who he had promised to meet with that day. He felt a tad embarrassed for not remembering.

"Hey Mithos. How are you?" Kratos smiled, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Sorry I didn't get to the door earlier. I was a little preoccupied."

"You fatty," Mithos simply said, inviting himself in.

"Excuse me?" Kratos said, stunned.

"How many peanut-mallows have you had today?" Kratos tilted his head to the side. "Don't act like you're so innocent. It's not you. Peanut-mallows… peanut butter-marshmallow sandwiches. You've got the filling all over your face."

The redheaded man's face reddened some as he turned around to wipe off any trace of the sandwich from his face with his sleeve. Once he was sure that everything was gone, he turned back to Mithos. He got a smile which made him assume that he was clean.

"So, what did you need to talk with me about? Your e-mail wasn't very specific," Kratos mentioned, offering Mithos the cleanest spot on the couch. "It did sound a little urgent though."

Mithos only looked up at him and smiled that mysterious smile of his and pat a hand on the couch cushion next to him. Seeing no harm in sitting down on his own couch to receive information, Kratos gladly accepted the invitation. After that, the redheaded man waited patiently to hear the reason Mithos had come over to talk to him at such an early time in the day… for Mithos anyway. He was more of a night person.

"I came to talk about the assignment I e-mailed you about." Kratos let out an audible groan. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Kratos became embarrassed to admit the reason he was upset about the visit. The fact was, he had been paranoid about it all day. He really didn't want to have to talk about it anymore. It was working at the last strings of his sanity, which were already thin thanks to Lloyd. Kratos heaved out a sigh.

"No sir… nothing at all," he said.

"Sure sounds like something," the blond insisted, flicking the side of Kratos's temple while smirking. "You know you can tell me anything. We've been friends for years. Nothing's changed." Kratos was about to open his mouth to say something, but Mithos beat him to it. "And just because I'm your boss doesn't mean anything either. So, tell me, what about this mission has you upset?"

Noishe's barking could now be heard outside which tensed Kratos up and made him grip his sword again, though not pull it out.

"Kratos, you don't have to take this mission if you don't want to. Nothing's making you do it," he stated, making Kratos loosen his grip on his sword some. "I can tell you're quite a bit freaked out about it."

"No, it's fine," Kratos said. "Everything's fine. I'm just…" He tried to think of an excurse. "…I'm just worried about Lloyd is all. I wouldn't want him coming home to a pervert burglar you know? Well, maybe you don't since you don't have kids, but still, surely you feel that way for your sister? The prot--…"

Mithos wiped a finger over Kratos's lips, resulting in a pause from the other male. This made the blond smile even more as he pulled the finger away and pushed it into Kratos's mouth.

"You missed some marshmallow cream from earlier," Mithos smirked, not removing his finger from his friend's mouth. "And I'm not taking my finger out till you get it all off."

A small blush came to the redhead's face as he looked down and away while he flicked his tongue over the blond's finger, indeed finding left over cream. He continued this for about ten more seconds and once he though he was done, he pulled away, a small string of saliva connecting to Mithos's finger for a moment.

"You always have been such a sloppy eater," Mithos said as he rose from his seat on the couch. "Anyways, I'm sure you'll be fine on this mission. You're tough. I'm sure you'll get him before he does anything too serious."

That comment resulted in a pause from Kratos. What exactly did he mean by "too serious"? Mithos then sucked on the finger he had placed into Kratos's mouth and chuckled lightly.

"You didn't get all the cream off." The blond opened the door to leave.

"Wait!" Kratos yelled, resulting in Mithos stopping and turning around to look at him. "Uhm, you sure you don't want to stay longer? I mean, we hardly talked and it hasn't even been ten minutes." He sighed. "How do you know I'm the right one for this job?"

All Mithos did to answer was chuckle as he made his exit, closing the door all the way behind him. Kratos then huffed rather angrily.

"That doesn't answer anything, jerkwad."

-Back to Zelos and Lloyd-

Zelos stared in slight shock as he watched "Dolly" down about ten sandwiches in less than five minutes. He had to admit it was quite an impressive display seeing as that none of his other maids particularly CARED to eat that much at all. They all had "figures" to maintain, so they could hardly eat too much anyway.

The redhead found this new experience… to be kind of a turn on.

"Huh, I've never seen a girl chow down like that before," Zelos smiled as Lloyd thanked Sebastian for the meal. "I think I kind of like it."

"What?" Lloyd said, stunned. "I was only eating."

"Mmm, and it makes you all the more delicious," grinned Zelos as he draped his arms around the brunet's shoulders and hugging his neck. "Hmm, I wonder."

Lloyd was already blushing quite profusely, but when he suddenly felt teeth sink into the shell of his right ear softly, his cheeks made a ripe strawberry look pale. And when Zelos ran his tongue just briefly over the part of Lloyd's ear that he was nibbling, Lloyd couldn't help but to…

"Nnn," he moaned softly, gently shoving at his boss to get him to let go. "I-I-I should get started on the ch-chores sir."

"Neh!" Zelos didn't release him when he tried to get up. "Dolly dear, I do believe I told you to call me by my name. I'm perfectly alright with it hunny."

"_Argh, he made me make that noise again! I have to have more self-control with this guy!_" Lloyd thought to himself.

Zelos coughed, interrupting Lloyd's thoughts to remind him that he was there. Sighing in defeat, Lloyd readied himself to say what needed to be said to get his boss off of him.

"Uhm, I … I think I should get started on the chores… Zelos," he said at last.

These words made Zelos smile and briefly hug "Dolly" a little tighter before he let her go from his grip. He loved how she said his name, though he didn't quite catch the agitated tone in it. But, since it was said, he needed to get to telling the jobs that needed to be done that day.

… Now that he thought about it though…

"You know Dolly?" Lloyd looked over to Zelos. "I don't believe you have much to do today. I mean, Sebastian's got the dishes for you sandwiches taken care of and we already had the mansion cleaned for you before you got here."

Tilting his head to the side slightly, Lloyd pondered why he was over there now. If nothing needed to be done, why exactly did he HAVE to come that very day?

He had only showed up to get paid…

"So… do you need me to go home?" he asked reluctantly.

"Hm? Oh, no, no, no. I think it'd be better if you'd stay so you can get to know my mansion a little bit better so jobs will be a little easier," replied Zelos. "That… and I can get to know you a bit better." His hands returned to Lloyd and secured themselves around his waist. "In more ways than one if you know what I mean."

The butler sighed, taking up "Dolly's plate.

"You mean like answering a survey?" Lloyd asked, completely disregarding the fact that Zelos had wrapped himself around the boy once again. "I really like answering survey questions."

Quite shocked by the answer, Zelos fell over backwards. Sebastian chuckled lightly as he walked off the kitchen, as Lloyd only sat in his seat confused by what he had said wrong.

"A survey?" Zelos asked, looking back up to Lloyd. He received a nod and a happy smile. "Uh… If you really want to take a survey, I guess I can make one for you."

Lloyd thought for a moment as Zelos pulled his chair out from underneath him so that he could get up. As they were walking out, the words came to the brunet's mouth in the form of a question.

"So what is it that you want me to do while you're making the survey?"

"Oh, well, you can do whatever you'd like to. Walk around a bit, talk with Sebastian. You know, familiarize yourself with my lovely mansion. I'll be about thirty minutes so it won't be too long." Zelos cracked his knuckles. "I'm an excellent typist."

"Okay then," said Lloyd as he started to walk off.

Before he got too far though, a cough was heard from the other man. It wasn't a sick cough, judging by the forced tone in it, so Lloyd slowly turned around, assuming that something else was going to be said to him.

"Yes sir--… uh, Zelos?"

"Nothing hunny," he smiled back. "I just wanted to get another glimpse of that gorgeous face of yours and hear that beautiful voice say my mane before we parted." Lloyd tried very hard not to stare too concerned at him. "Farewell for now my hunny. See you soon~"

Zelos then walked off, spirits high and a small skip in his step. For about five minutes, Lloyd just stood there where he'd been left, trying to wrap his head around what just happened. He then briefly wondered how long this was going to last before he had finally snapped at all the attention he would be receiving from someone of the same sex.

He then went his own separate way, his thoughts having been interrupted by his own stomach. He was going to go and ask Sebastian for another sandwich. This was going to be a long few months… Might as well stuff himself with comfort food while he could still be comforted.

"_What in the world have I gotten myself into?_"

End of Chaptero Doso

banANNU: Sorry that this took so long to post. I have moved states -___- I got a little behind . I apologize to all of my fans and hope you all will come to forgive me. V__V' But since I can access this at school, I will be posting more often! YAY!

Jazzimon: It's about time too. I've been waiting forever for this.

banANNU: -snifflz- I miss my owner –sobz-

Jazzimon: ……..-patz head- ……... I'm here so shut up and talk to the fans…… .

banANNU: ^_^ okay! So anyways, I hop that this chapter was enjoyable and you'll all review for chaptero treso. I will post it as soon as I possibly can! And don't forget about the Birthday IIIsome! It will be updating soon as well since the spiral was sent up. WOOHOO!

Kratos: -enterz- What do you think you're doing with me and Mithos? -____- #

banANNU: uh…

Jazzimon: Not to worry. I know the general idea of what will happen with you. You two won't be paired together. I hate that pairing.

banANNU: She's right about that actually.

Kratos: O.O well, that's a relief. –exitz-

banANNU: Should we have told him what was going to happen to him?

Jazzimon: -grinz- nope! It's more fun this way. Besides, no spoiling for the readers!

banANNU: Tis true. Well, I hope you all liked this one and are looking forward to the next. I have so much planned for this story so please review so I know to post more! Until next time! –exitz-

Jazzimon: … I miss my Pokemon TT^TT…

To readers: Jazzimon and I (or me at the very least) need some cheering up. It's been a while since I was forced to move up with my dad, but support would be nice until I move back. We love you all! Review and goodies shall be in store~!

PS: I didn't really have much time to go over and revise this, so if there are any errors, please point them out to me in a message or review or ... whatever ^_^" please and thank you vera much!


	3. Chaptero treso

Chapter Three

Written by : banANNU

Rating : M… Language and later chapters kiddies.

Disclaimer:

BanANNU : Holy shit, this took forever, but I finally did it!

Jazzimonster : No shit! I've been waiting forever to see you post something new! What the fuck took you so long?

BanANNU : … My dad has my flash drives… and that means he has the chapter I Was going to post a while back and I'm too stubborn to go back and get them because I'm a stupid 19-year old college drop out…

Jazzimonster : Aren't we all… wait…

Zelos : -enterz- Hey guys.

Jazzimonster and banANNU : -lookz over at Zelos- Hi?

Zelos : So, I have this thing I want to suggest for something later on. Who is the author again? It's been so long.

BanANNU : -raisez arm- ME ME ME ME ME!

Zelos : -walkz over to BanANNU and whisperz-

BanANNU : KYAAA~~~~~

Kratos : -enterz- What the hell is going on in here?

BanANNU : I GOTTA WRITE THAT DOWN FOR LATER FOR THIS! –exitz-

All : O n o;;;

Jazzimonster : Well, whatever she's going to do, I'm sure she wants to let you all know that she doesn't rightfully own anything from TOS, characters or otherwise. Now, I will be leaving to go find out what has happened. –exitz-

Kratos : -glarez at Zelos - What the hell have you done?

Zelos : -grinz- Enjoy~! –exitz-

Chaptero treso

"Okay, I'm done," Lloyd called to Zelos. Some of them were really hard to answer."

The redhead happily walked over to his cute little maid, quite eager to read some of the answers to some of the rather interesting questions. When he had heard some of the questions had been difficult to answer, this only doubled the curiosity of Zelos.

As soon as the little survey was handed over, Zelos' eyes skipped past the first few questions. Those, to him were the boring questions, like favorite color, animal, or food and such. Once it got around to question number twenty-two, things got interesting… or so Zelos thought at least.

#22 What is your favorite position?

At first, Zelos thought it was a trick of the light, but as he read through it again, he realized his eyes weren't deceiving him. The answer really was :

You mean on how I like to sleep? Well, that would be on my stomach of course… unless I'm feeling sick. Then, I would sleep on my right side.

Zelos paused a moment, then, thinking the maid had only gotten this question confused, he read on.

#23 Do you prefer top or bottom?

To be totally honest, I would rather sleep on a bottom bunk, mainly because falling off the top bunk hurts really bad.

#24 Have you ever used handcuffs before?

Seeing as that my dad works with the police, I've definitely had to know my way around them. I got caught in them once when my dad was out and took the key with him. It was an accident, OKAY?

#25 Do you use toys?

I prefer video games over toys really. I'm not five anymore.

#26 Do you like it against the wall?

… I don't throw my games against the wall if that's what you mean.

#27 Do you bite or scratch?

Sheena's dog does.

#28 Do you make the bed rock?

About that actually… I have a bad habit of breaking beds. So far, it's been three. I once broke my gramma's bed by jumping on it, but that was when I was little. And then, I broke my bed by putting too much heavy stuff on it. I most recently broke my dad's bed. I… kinda made my dog tear it apart by stuffing it with jerky sticks. It's going to have to be the first thing I use my paycheck on.

Seeing as that the answers to the questions weren't going where he wanted them to go, Zelos stopped there. The last one did make him smirk, as well as the handcuffs one.

"However did you manage to get out of those handcuffs, Ms. Dolly?" Zelos beamed.

It took a second for it to register in Lloyd's head, but as soon as it did, his cheeks reddened a tad and he looked down and to the side. His thumbs twiddled a bit as he remembered how embarrassing the whole situation turned out to be. Kratos never found out, which was good for him, but someone else did.

"…Sheena took them off for me." His face started to burn a little bit more. "Turns out they had a simple mechanism to unlock them if you knew how to use it. After that, I told my dad that he needed a new pair of handcuffs."

"_And then he said ' If Lloyd can figure it out, anyone can…'. God that was embarrassing to hear him say that,_" thought Lloyd.

Lloyd then looked up to Zelos, half expecting him to be laughing or sneering. Either of the two were pretty common reposnses to get from anyone, but when he found the other seemed more apologetic than anything, the brunet was stunned.

"Your wrists are okay, right?" Zelos asked. "I know what kind of an affect they can have on your wrists if they're on for too long."

"Yeah, they're—fine?"

"Are you sure?"

Zelos took Lloyd's hands into his to examine them. Lloyd still wasn't quite used to the touchy-touchy part of his boss yet, but he let Zelos do what he needed so it could end faster. But, it was then that Lloyd remembered some words of caution Sheena gave him before he'd arrived.

'…_make sure to hide your sleeves of your jacket. Zelos is a little bit of a freak on his employees getting hurt._'

Lloyd was going to pull his had back, but it was too late. Zelos had already seen the bandages on the maid's wrists.

"What is this?" Zelos asked quietly at first.

"Er… bandages?"

"What's underneath the bandages though…? OH MY GODESS!" The unexpected outburst caused Lloyd to take a small step back. "IT HASN'T BEEN INFECTED HAS IT?"

Any of the next few words to come out of Lloyd's mouth all fell upon deaf ears. Lloyd had figured Sheena was just kidding around about how much Zelos freaked out about his employees getting hurt. The next few moments that transpired were probably the most awkward of moments that happened between Lloyd and another male throughout his entire life… at least for now.

Zelos ripped the bandages off and tugged Lloyd's had closer to his own face to get a closer look at it. That was when Lloyd's wound went directly into Zelos' mouth and the strangest sensation came over him.

"_Is he sucking… on my… hand?_" Lloyd thought to himself.

"WE HAVE TO GET THE POISON OUT!" Zelos shouted.

"But it's not even bleeding."

Lloyd's words were ignored and Zelos continued to suck at the injury causing a reddish mark to appear. Numerous attempts were made to try and get the hand back, but every time that happened, Zelos just tugged harder and pulled the brunet closer.

After about five or so minutes later of sucking and spitting (tee hee), Zelos finally quit his panic attack and dashed away a moment. The maid took a quick look at his hand, and what he found didn't please him one bit.

"_Oh my fucking Goddess…_" The hand was brought right up to his nose to get a better look at it. "_HE GAVE ME A FUCKING HICKEY… ON MY HAND!_ _Sheena is never going to find out about this… EVER! She'll never let me live this down. Oh no._" A thought of Kratos discovering the "love mark" on his hand briefly ran through his mind. "_Oh… NO. What if dad finds it? What if he asks where I got it from. Does he even know what a hickey looks like? OH NO. WHAT IF HE FINDS OUT THAT I'M CROSSDRESSING AS A MAID TO GET MONEY. HE'LL KILL ME._"

A blur of red appeared back in the room, not that Lloyd was paying much attention. He was much too busy having a mental freak out to really care what else was going on around him.

"Okay, I got you a fresh set of bandages, some disinfectant, gauze, Advil to help kill the pain a little, a few band-aids, I've got a warm bath running if you want that, a comfy guest bed… I've got Sebastian getting some medications together if you start running a fever and…"

That went on for a good couple of minutes.

"… _and what if everyone in school finds out? I'll be an outcast for the rest of my high school career. I'll be screwed if I go to a college anywhere near here. I'll have no friends, my family won't accept me, I'll never be hired for a job again and I'll never be able to own a home… I'll be a hobo begging for money on the side of the street. Not only that but…_"

…As well as that…

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

-Meanwhile, in the home of Kratos Aurion-

The visit from his boss didn't really help the irritating fact that Kratos was freaking out about the Pervert Burglar case that he was currently assigned to. Not even the "comforting" texts he would receive on the occasion from Kandee and Asaria telling him everything should be just fine. Everyone in the neighborhood knew that Kratos was working with the police which made the street he lived on quite a pleasant one.

But this pervert burglar. He probably wasn't from around the area Kratos lived. Heck, he was probably a wanderer doing whatever he pleased in whatever town he felt like doing it in. He wouldn't know that Kratos was helping the police. He wouldn't know that he was even assigned to the case that the pervert was causing.

This was what worried Kratos most.

The burglar had a possibility of breaking into Kratos' house and stealing something… or worse.

Kratos refused to think of the possibility of what could happen.

"Okay, I should get my mind off of this for a while. Right now, I've got no leads as to who the hell this guy is. Once we get some more information on him, I can make this my problem," Kratos said in a sad attempt to get his mind off of the whole situation. "I should just go … do some shopping. Yeah, that's it. We're all out of peanut butter anyways. May as well go down to the store and pick up some groceries and a beware of vicious dog signs to put up all outside the house."

Kratos stood up from the couch, put away the pillows and blankets he had been hiding in, sheathed his sword, and got ready to head out.

That's when Noishe started going crazy.

The redhead ducked down underneath a nearby coffee table. Noishe never barked like that. Not at the neighbor's cat. Not at Lloyd when he got him in a jerky frenzy. Not even at dinner time when it was five minutes past needing to be fed.

This was some serious shit.

"Crap… I left my sword back in the living room," Kratos said to himself. "Well, I didn't hear the door open, so I should be safe to grab it."

"KRATOS!"

Kratos's head hit the underside of the coffee table and a small swear found it's way out of his mouth. It was Sheena's voice.

"_Why in Martel's great name would she come in through the backdoor?_"

"Kratos? You there?" Sheena called out again. She walked over to the front of the house where the stairs were located and where Kratos was crawling out from underneath the coffee table he'd taken refuge under. "Uhm, I'm assuming you would rather I didn't ask."

"Yeah, that would be preferred."

"Okay. I was just coming by to let you know Lloyd is already working. I'll be taking him to and from work after school and from here and such so you don't have to worry about him. You'll be able to work on your pervert… rapist burglar or whatever," Sheena said, looking around the room to see if Kratos had been hiding from something.

"You know about that case?" Kratos asked.

"Of course. Kandee already told me all about it this morning. She told me she had called you about it and that you were going to work on the case."

"Ah. Kandee." Kratos had completely forgotten that Kandee, Asaria and Sheena were pretty close friends. Nothing was kept secret in their group. "Anyways, why were you coming in from the back door? You're perfectly capable of coming in through the front."

Sheena made a quick gesture back towards the two dogs that were playing outside together.

"Corrine wanted to come along and I knew how Noishe and him got along so well, so I thought I'd just drop him off in the back and come in through the backdoor. You've been rather jumpy lately about everything," Sheena decided to finally point out. "You been doing okay old man?"

The old man comment probably wasn't necessary, but it certainly made sure that Kratos was paying attention. His mind seemed to be everywhere else but in the conversation he was supposed to be having with Sheena.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kratos straightened himself out. "So, I'm curious. Neither your nor Lloyd mentioned what it is that he's doing now that's going to be earning him so much money. Mattresses don't exactly come cheap you know."

"Well," she started, "he's kind of working as a… butler of sorts."

"…A butler?" Kratos asked a bit confused. "Are you sure Lloyd's going to be able to keep that job? I mean, really. You and I both know Lloyd. He can barely keep his own room clean, and he hates taking orders from others. He generally ignores anything anybody says that he registers as unimportant, and I'm pretty sure the person he cares most about is himself."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll learn to be a little more respectful towards people now."

Sheena grinned a sort of evil grin which was a little concerning for Kratos. He decided not to ask however. Sheena had the capability to be very terrifying.

"Anyways, I'm going to be off now. Would it be okay if left Corrine here for the day until Lloyd gets off work?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure. Say uh, what are your plans today?"

"Nothing really. Kandee and Asaria wanted to have a girl's day out. We're going to go to the mall and then going to a movie."

"Ah. No stopping by the grocery store?" he asked hopefully.

"Haha, no. Of course not," she snickered thinking that the question was a joke. "Anyways, I'd love to sit and chat a while longer, but you know how the girls can be. They hold anyone showing up late personally and I've got a good reputation going with them that I don't show up late at all." The girl adjusted the purse she had slung over her shoulder to signal she was going to go. "I'll see you later today Kratos."

And with that, she walked out the front door and was gone. Kratos stood there for a moment, a certain few words going through his mind.

Pervert rapist burglar.

Pervert. _Rapist. _Burglar.

It was just a word that related to pervert of course. There had been no cases of rape mentioned in the report. There was no need to worry about a simple slip up. So why was that one word sticking out in his mind.

Kratos decided he'd just stay home locked up in Lloyd's bedroom until he got back.

Peanut butter could wait until tomorrow.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

-Back to the main pairing-

It had taken a few moments for each of the boys to calm themselves down enough to come to the realization that what was going on wasn't too terribly serious. The wound on Lloyd's hand had been explained as a minor dog bite and the worries going through Lloyds head were pushed down with the "I'll worry about it when the time comes" method.

Sebastian had walked in and had helped to calm Zelos down and pulled Lloyd aside to wrap up his hand. Zelos had been shooed off so that the newly hired maid could be calmed down a little more. It also seemed like Sebastian had something to say to "Dolly".

"You know the Master only worries because he cares." The conversation started had caught Lloyd a little off guard. "I don't usually talk with the maid's he hires like this the first day, but Master Zelos seems to have taken a more attached liking to you much quicker than the previous maids. Maybe it's because you're friends with Sheena and she wants him to behave a little more around you, but I'm pretty sure it's because you react a little differently than any of the other maids Miss Dolly."

"What do you mean?" Lloyd had to admit he was curious. He didn't quite understand why Zelos would take a liking to an impersonation of a female rather than the real thing.

"I'm sure if you stay long enough, you'll start to figure it out." The butler gave a small, melancholic smile to the younger boy. "You'll be surprised on what he's really like compared to what everyone says about him. And with that, your hand is wrapped up and you're ready to get a whole tour of the mansion."

Looking down at his hand, Lloyd thought for a moment. He was pretty sure that Zelos was treating him just like any other female that came into his presence. The redhead was a pervert, flirted, and got angry about the mentioning a "boyfriend". He sounded like the rumors he'd heard all around the school.

Putting the thought aside for the time being though, he followed Sebastian over to Zelos who was pacing around nervously. Even though the wound had been explained, it appeared he was still worried about it.

"Thank you Sebastian." Zelos came up to the maid and grabbed the hand. "If you don't mind, could I talk to Dolly alone?"

"Of course Master Zelos."

Sebastian made a quick exit and left the two alone. Lloyd was half hoping the butler would at least stay somewhere within ear shock in case something happened, but Sebastian was loyal to Zelos. There would be no eavesdropping from the elder man.

"Is your hand feeling any better?" Zelos asked.

"U-uh, yeah, it's fine. It wasn't that bad to begin with, but I guess Sebastian did do a pretty good job wrapping it up." Lloyd forced out a smile. "It looks like there won't be any infections any time soon."

"That's a relief." Lloyd noticed that Zelos seemed a little flustered. "I suppose I should apologize about my reaction. I never have been good with dealing with injuries." The redhead rubbed the back of his neck and laughed a little. "But you have to admit, the little present I left on your hand is very charming."

A bright red blush spread all the way across the brunet's face. The apology was nice, but the laugh and slight mocking wasn't wanted. Lloyd frowned and looked down. He prayed that Zelos wouldn't breathe a word about it to Sheena.

"You're absolutely adorable when you blush," Zelos grinned. "Red is a nice color on you."

Zelos reached out a hand and nudged Lloyd's face up to look at him. Zelos simply smiled down at him and then pet the soft brown hair atop his head. Lloyd continued to frown and to blush as well. However, he couldn't quite pull his eyes away from the face smiling down at him. It was gentler than any smile any girl had ever given him.

"Anyways, I'm sure getting you more acquainted with the mansion will be helpful for this coming week. We'll get you accustomed to the rules and regulations at a comfortable pace for you. We don't need to rush you into a panic attack no do we?" Zelos casually laughed.

"_Oh, I'm sure the work won't be doing that,_" Lloyd thought.

Their conversation over, Zelos picked his flirtatious attitude back up and gave a detailed tour of the mansion. Lloyd tried his best to keep up and ignore the parts where he was getting hit on, but doing that was harder than it seemed. The next few weeks to a month were going to be the longest of his life.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

-A few hours later –

"And then I found him hiding underneath a table! I tell you, there's been something really bugging Kratos lately," Sheena said to a pink haired girl. "He's always been able to maintain his composure in any situation. Do you think it has something to do with the assignment that he's working on Kandee."

"I don't know. It's really weird for him to act like that about anything at all," Kandee replied.

"Where do I turn Sheena?" a calmer voice asked from the front of the car all three girls were in.

"Just keep going straight. At the next light, you'll take a left. After that I'm sure you'll be able to see it," Sheena responded. "What about you Asaria. What do you think is up with Kratos?"

"Driving."

That was all that needed to be said to get Sheena to start talking with Kandee again. Asaria may have been the calmest of the trio, and the safest driver as well, but when it came to being bothered as she was driving, well… let's just say it didn't take much to get the ebony haired girl panicked and end up in the backseat of someone else's car.

"Well, I guess we can talk about that later," Kandee said, getting Sheena's attention back. "For now, how in the world did you get Lloyd to get in a maid's outfit for ZELOS of all people? I mean, I was pretty sure Zelos is the biggest pervert when it comes to girls and Lloyd was pretty solid on being a man."

Sheena laughed and started from when she had called Lloyd the moment she quit working for the "pervert of a redhead" known as Zelos. The bet was mentioned and Kandee simply nodded as each detail was brought up.

"All in all, money can win Lloyd over just about anything. The house is right over there." Sheena reached through to the front seat to point out where Asaria needed to stop. "And if you guys don't believe me on how feminine he looks, you're about to find out. I'm sure he'll be happy to see me and get out of here."

The small car came to a slow stop in front of Zelos' mansion. Sheena grabbed unbuckled and got out of the car to go and ring to doorbell. It didn't take long for Sebastian to answer.

"Ah, Ms. Sheena. I assume that you're here to pick up Ms. Dolly?" the butler smiled.

"Yes. I'm sure she's ready to go home," Sheena smiled back. "Her first day anywhere always gets her so nervous."

"Please wait here a moment. I shall go fetch her." Sebastian turned to go find Dolly, but then he stopped and turned back to Sheena. "She's quite a catching young lady you've turned into us for work. Zelos has taken quite a liking to her. She's very charming and sweet. I must thank you for suggesting her."

Sebastian bowed shortly and then walked out of sight.

"_So Zelos has already taken a liking to him. That certainly didn't take long. I wonder what he did to get his attention so fast._" She let out a small laugh. "_Poor Lloyd._"

As she stood there thinking to herself, she heard her name being questioned inside and then a round of footsteps. A few seconds later, a happy looking "Dolly" popped up in front of Sheena and gave her one of the tightest hugs she'd received in a while. She was pretty sure her friend was trying to duck his head into her cleavage, which didn't please Sheena in the slightest.

"SHEENA! I missed you! I'm so happy to see you!" Lloyd had gotten a little better with his girlish voice. "Let's go home nooooow. Please?"

"Yes, of course. We'll talk about your day in the car with Kandee and Asaria," Sheena grinned, pushing Lloyd two steps back.

"Say what?" Lloyd's happy mood instantly dissipated. He looked around Sheena to see two ecstatic girls waving wildly in the car at him. "I fucking hate you, Sheena."

"You're such a sweetheart. We'll see you tomorrow Sebastian," Sheena said, waving to the butler.

"Wait!"

Zelos could be seen coming down the stairs waving the two friends to stop. He reached them in moments and then instantly grabbed Lloyd from behind in a fair well hug. The other tensed up and the glare he'd been stabbing into Sheena only became more hateful and full of a fiery death. Sheena simply smirked and pat Lloyd on the head.

Zelos nuzzled his head up to Lloyd's head and said, "You didn't think you were going to leave without saying good-bye did you? Silly girl." Zelos gave Lloyd a quick peck on the cheek causing a tint of red to paint itself across the maid's face. "Have a wonderful day hunnie. Oh, and don't forget about Lloyd. I'm looking forward to meeting him"

And with that, Zelos released Lloyd. Sheena was having the hardest time holding down her snickering and that evil grin of hers. Lloyd took note of that and growled some profanities under his breath. Seeing the two grinning girls in the car only worsened the intensity of the swears and death wishes.

Kandee was all the way on the other side of the car door and since Sheena opened the door for Lloyd saying "Ladies first", Lloyd was going to be stuck in the middle of the back seat with the pink-haired girl and his snickering "best friend".

"So, Ms. Dolly," Kandee giggled. "How was your wonderful first day of one of the best paying jobs in town?"

"I hate all of you," Lloyd said in a feminine growl.

"AWWWWWWW!" Asaria squealed from the front seat. "Lloyd, you're absolutely adorable! And your make-up is stunning! You really do look surprisingly like a girl."

"C'moooon, tell us how it was," Kandee begged, puffing her cheeks out and jutting her lower lip out.

"No, first, tell us how he knows about Lloyd," Sheena grinned. Lloyd looked down to his hands he had placed in his lap with a look of utter embarrassment on his face as Asaria started driving back to Sheena's place. "Don't act like I didn't hear your boss _Dolly. _I'm pretty sure that I heard that he wants to meet Lloyd sometime."

"I panicked, okay Sheena?" Lloyd said, trying to get his normal voice back. "I freaked out when I saw his colognes and he asked why I would want them… and I said they were for my boyfriend. And when he asked who that was, all I could think of was my own name. And then he tried to kiss me and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… he tried to _kiss_,kiss you?" Sheena was honestly baffled. Zelos may have been rather touchy when it came to breasts and hugs, but he would hardly make a move to kiss any girls unless they were actually dating. Not even Sheena had advancement like that.

"Yeah. It was terrifying, thinking of losing my first kiss to someone of the same gender. I managed to get away from that, thank the goddess, but he's sworn to make a successful attempt at kissing me." He looked straight at Kandee. "Kandee, will you kiss me? Maybe if he does get a kiss, it won't be the first one."

Kandee simply stared at him, then looked at Sheena, and back at Lloyd and laughed. Hard. Seeing that Kandee was a lost cause, he looked over at Asaria who simply glared at him in the rear view mirror and said "driving". He hung his head as if giving up.

"You know Lloyd, there's always Sheena," Kandee suggested.

"Wh-what?" Sheena said, blood rushing to her face.

"I can't kiss Sheena," sighed Lloyd. "That would be weird. We're best friends. We can't just kiss and then think everything will be okay after that."

Sheena clenched her fists slightly and glared straight over at Lloyd who didn't notice since he was looking at Kandee. She refused to say anything about what he had said though. She didn't want to start an awkward argument in front of Kandee and Asaria.

"I thought you had gotten your first kiss from Colette though," Sheena said bitterly. "I remember you bragged for days about it. She'd even said that you two had kissed."

Lloyd looked over at Sheena and sighed. "We never did anything. We didn't even date like I said we had. I just sort of asked her to play along to impress people since she and I were friends and she's one of the most popular girls in the school."

"Oh Lloyd… Such a shame. I guess it's going to suck for you," Kandee frowned. "Your first kiss is going to a guy. But anyways, how are you going to get Zelos to meet with the real you? Surely he'll want to see you and Dolly together."

Sheena only laughed.

"You underestimate the stupidity of Zelos Wilder. He'll buy any excuse that a girl haves to give if he likes them enough," Sheena said. "And according to the whole kissing thing, Zelos seems to really like you."

"Doesn't he try to kiss every girl he sees?" Lloyd questioned, tilting his head to the side. "I was pretty sure he was the biggest player in the school."

A small spark shot through Sheena's eyes. "Oh! That's the excuse that we'll come up with! You and Dolly don't go to the same school. Dolly will be homeschooled and you'll be able to meet up with Zelos no problem as plain old Lloyd."

"Not a bad idea," Asaria said from the front.

"OH MY GODDESS ASARIA, PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD!" Kandee screamed at her best friend. A small "sorry" was heard and Kandee continued to speak. "Jeez, you trying to get us all killed? Anyhow, I think that's an awesome idea Sheena. Being friends with Zelos won't be too bad of an idea. He doesn't usually try to make friends with guys, kind of like you oddly enough, but since you'll be able to get to know the real him a little more, it'll help you when you're Dolly to know how to react better."

Lloyd thought about it for a moment and nodded in agreement. Getting to be friends with Zelos didn't seem like a bad idea. Maybe he would be able to convince Zelos to keep away from him when he was dressed up as Dolly and reinforce the idea that Dolly had a boyfriend.

A hot, sexy boyfriend.

"We're home guys," Asaria announced as she parked the car in front of Sheena's house. "Unfortunately, we can't stay to see the new outfits you got for Lloyd on him, but we're more than welcome to help you pick him up tomorrow afternoon once he's done with work."

Lloyd's left eye twitched. There were more frilly, lacey, silky… THINGS he was going to have to try on? After the dresses he had seen earlier, he was sure that seven different dresses were going to be fine. One dress for every day of the week if he had to work. That was how it worked right?

"That's okay guys. I'll send you some pictures. Just be sure to keep them between yourselves. Lloyd may be a bit of an ass at times"-Lloyd snorted stubbornly-"but he's my friend. We don't need the whole school blowing his cover before the week is over. Come one Lloyd. We'll see you guys tomorrow!"

Sheen pushed the door open, pulled Lloyd out of the car and waved the two girls off. She noticed that Kandee had jumped up to the front seat while Asaria was driving. It was a good thing that Asaria was only going around five miles per hour and that she was driving in a neighborhood that was all inside because she accidentally drifted into the opposite lane to look at Kandee and yell at her for being stupid. Sheena simply rolled her eyes and smiled.

They were crazy, but she loved em both.

That was when she was going to turn to Lloyd to ask what had happened at his first day of work, but she found him already half way to the door of her house. She ran over to him and grabbed his arm to turn him around. A glare and blush were all she received and she just smiled in return.

"Come on, let me show you the nice little dresses I got you. I made sure they had no chest to em so I wouldn't have to work so much on making my old ones fit you. Plus I'm sure Zelos will like something a little different."

"Sheena?" Lloyd spoke softly.

"Yeah buddy?"

"I hate your fucking guts."

"I know Lloyd," she laughed, patting him on the back softly. "I know."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

-At Lloyd's house-

"Dad! I'm home!" Lloyd called out, waving Sheena off as well as Corrine. The brunet then walked into the house itching at his hind quarters. "Dammit, what the fuck is wrong with my boxers? And why is there an empty peanut butter jar on the stairs? … Dad?"

Lloyd cautiously walked up the stairs. His dad was usually down on the couch looking up jobs or in his emails on his laptop. A little past nine was too early for Kratos to be in bed, but too late for him to be out unless a job called for it. But even then, Kratos would leave a note on the door that he'd be back later.

Quietly kicking off his shoes to make walking quieter, Lloyd grabbed an umbrella, the nearest blunt object, and walked over to Kratos' room. He nudged the door open, quickly turned on the lights and took a defensive stance. Nothing. Lloyd turned off the light and then moved across the hallway to the bathroom. He repeated the process that he had done with the previous room, and then heard a loud groan.

Lloyd's heart beat sped up. The noise had come from his own room. He threw his back against the wall and silently slid over to his door. He was just about to nudge it open when it started to slowly open on it's own. Lloyd tightened his grip on the top of the umbrella, getting ready to swing the handle at whatever came out of his room.

Then, he saw red and instinctively swung and yelled. He immediately regret his action.

"…DAD?" Lloyd said confused. "W-w-what are you DOING in my room?"

An evil, glint shone in his father's eyes as a hand grabbed the brunet's leg and pulled. Lloyd let out a yelp and landed on his back. Groaning soon followed.

"Fuuuuuuck Dad. Really?" He received an umbrella hit to the face. "OW! Was that really necessary?"

"Watch your damn mouth," Kratos growled. "And look before you hit me next time."

"Ugh," Lloyd grunted. "Can I just go to sleep? I had a long day."

"I can imagine. We'll just talk about it tomorrow." Kratos stood up and started down the stairs. "I'm going to start looking more at the… job that I have now. Make sure your window is locked. You can never be too sure about this neighborhood anymore."

Innocent brown eyes blinked questioningly as Kratos helped his son up from the floor.

"Don't worry about it. Just lock your window and go to bed."

Lloyd nodded, yawned and stretched. He then waved Kratos off to go into his room. As soon as he turned on the light, a huge frown curled onto his face. There was a small pillow and blacket fort on the floor next to his bed.

"Dad, you never cease to confuse me."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

-The next day at school-

"Hey Lloyd!," Sheena smiled. "You ready for your second day of work at the greatest place on earth after school today?"

The brown haired boy only grunted as a response. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before due to the endless possibilities of what could go wrong. First and foremost, there was his dad discovering what was going on. He would ground Lloyd until he was twenty-one… possibly older if he gave him the chance. He may become legal when he was eighteen, but Kratos knew Lloyd would probably still be living with him until he got married and his wife demanded they got a place of their own. Grounding wouldn't be too difficult.

Then there was Zelos find out that Dolly was actually Lloyd. Sheena had already mentioned that Zelos would probably sue him. After that happened, rumors would fly through the school like wild fire, then out to the rest of the town. That would result in the possibility of another job being nearly impossible to acquire. Kratos wouldn't be having that. So then that would mean moving out of town or even out of the state. The thought of leaving Sheena and the rest of his friends behind made his stomach drop and knot up very uncomfortably.

"You okay?" Sheena queried, waving her hand in front of her friend's face.

"I didn't really get any sleep last night," Lloyd grumbled. "Did you text Zelos?"

Lloyd and Sheena had talked to each other about what had happened the day prior as Lloyd had been forced to try on the new dresses Sheena had bought for him. That way, when Zelos talked to Sheena, she would be able to back Lloyd or Dolly up. Same went with whatever was said to Kratos about the job. Lloyd was eternally grateful that Sheena was willing to cover for him if it was ever necessary.

"Yeah, I told him you'd meet him sometime during lunch. He was more than willing to meet with you strangely enough. Usually he's pretty awkard around boyfriends of people working for him."

Oddly enough, Sheena had been decently confuse about the whole situation on how different Zelos was acting around "Dolly". The first month had actually been fairly easy for her in terms of very basic pervertedness, if any at all. Mostly all he did was flirt. Zelos wasn't particularly interested in her at first. Other than her breasts, she never really caught his eyes, which was the same for any generic female. It wasn't until the last few weeks that he started to get grabby around her. But he had never made a move to kiss her. He usually just made perverted comments and gave hugs… or attempted to anyways.

"It's fine. It'll be a good thing if I can get the idea through his head that Dolly is already taken," Lloyd said.

"Oh ho, ho, ho. Poor, naïve, little Lloyd." The brunet tilted his head to the side. "Just because your 'girlfriend' is taken doesn't mean that he'll back off. If he has his eyes set on Dolly, the reason he wants to get to know her boyfriend is probably because he'll try and get you two to 'break up'."

Lloyd hung his head in disappointment.

"Really?"

"Sheeeeenaaaaa!"

Both Lloyd's and Sheena's eyes widened. It was Zelos' voice. Lloyd immediately ducked behind Sheena and started muttering "Please don't recognize me" over and over again. Sheena simply frowned, grabbed her friend from behind her, punched him in the shoulder and turned to smile at the approaching redhead.

"Hey Zelos. I thought that we were going to meet at lunch," she said, a slight nervousness in her voice.

"Yeah, but I just couldn't wait. I know where you are in the morning and Dolly said that you and Lloyd were best friends and hung out all the time," the redhead grinned. "And speaking of which, this must be him!"

"Hi…," Lloyd trailed off.

He reached his hand out to shake it with Zelos', but Zelos looked straight at Lloyd, then to the hand that was offered and then laughed. The laughter was immediately followed by a hug which startled both Lloyd and Sheena. Mostly Lloyd though. He had to hold back a scream that came from the fear of having the same body type as Dolly and being recognized right away.

"No need for formalities!" Zelos chuckled. "We should just skip that and be friends."

Now Sheena was really confused. Zelos never made friends with men. He absolutely _hated _men. Last she recalled, he would hardly acknowledge that a man even existed when he was around them. The fact that Zelos actually wanted to befriend Lloyd and gave him a _hug_ had Sheena's jaw drop so far that it popped it right out of place.

"Say Sheena, you don't mind if I steal him for a little bit before classes start, do you?" Zelos asked. The girl's jaw still dropped, she shook her head "no". "Awesome. I'll see you again at lunch my voluptuous beauty."

A blue eye winked and then stole Lloyd off and away to a less populated area. Lloyd's heart was racing a hundred miles per hour thinking of just about everything that could go wrong.

"Sorry this is all so sudden," Zelos immediately apologized. "As you know, I have your girlfriend working for me as a maid, and I have to know…"

Lloyd's heart rate slowed some. It initially appeared that Zelos had no idea what was going on, which was a good thing. However, Lloyd didn't quite let his guard down, just in case some trick question was going to be asked any time soon.

"Well, I guess you are decently attractive, but…," Zelos trailed off, looking deep into the other's eyes. The silence was killing Lloyd. Maybe he should've found a way to invest in colored contacts seeing as the redhead was staring quite intensely at them. But finally the silence was broken. "How in the hell did you get such a looker and sweetheart like Dolly?"

A wave of relief swept over Lloyd. So this is what this was all about. Lloyd still wasn't quite sure to take the fact that he was physically attractive as a female to be a compliment on his part or an insult to the cold hard fact that he was actually male. He shrugged that off though. He was happy that Zelos was unable to see the striking similarities between Dolly and himself.

"Well, it was kind of a lucky chance meeting," Lloyd laughed. He'd already planned out with Sheena how the meeting with him and his "girlfriend" would go. "My dad had sent me to the store to pick up some peanut butter. When I got there, the most beautiful sight caught my eye. Dolly was checking out some groceries for her grandmother when I walked up behind her and started a conversation." Zelos made a grunt of disappointment. Lloyd ignored that and continued. "You could say it was love at first sight. Everything about her was beautiful. Her hair, her eyes, her smile…"

"You aren't faking this whole thing are you? Are you two really dating?" Zelos asked suspiciously. Lloyd's smile faltered and he had gone completely blank on the story he was supposed to be telling. "I mean, you two look so much alike. The eyes, the hair… the face to a point. Hers is cuter of course. Anyways, you two aren't twins or something are you? Maybe an older brother trying to protect his younger sister from handsome devils such as myself?"

Again, Lloyd was thankful of the inability to actually tie the two together as the same person.

"No, I'm pretty sure we aren't related," he responded, trying to make his laugh convincing. "I have been told time to time that we look related, but it's not true. We come from two completely different families with two completely different sets of parents. That much I can say is true. However…," Lloyd trailed off. He thought now would be a better time than any to act more serious about his relationship with Dolly. "I love her with all my heart. I would be torn to pieces if she were to ever leave me or if something were to happen to her."

Zelos nodded, smiling. Cute little eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. Lloyd didn't quite understand the smile, but a quick reassuring pat on the back lifted the worries of the brunet to a point.

"Don't worry," Zelos grinned. "I promise that your girlfriend is in good hands. I won't let a thing happen to her while she's under Sebatian's and my view."

Lloyd couldn't help but smile some in return. "You know, Sheena and all the girls of the school must've been wrong about you. You seem like a nice enough guy. I don't see how they hate you so much."

Zelos' smile turned into a small frown.

"Oh, they don't hate me. They're just upset that none of them can handle my awesomeness," Zelos said, smile returning. "And you Lloyd, I can teach you to be awesome as well."

"Nah, that's okay. I've got an amazing girlfriend already. I think I'm awesome enough."

There was a small pause and Zelos tried to think of something else to say. Nothing came up right away. The bell to alert that the students needed to start heading off to class chimed in moments later.

"Well, uh, I guess I'll see you around Zelos," Lloyd smiled. "Lunch probably, right?"

"Yes, of course," Zelos said, regaining his temporarily lost composure. "I'll see you there Bud."

"…Bud?" Lloyd said questioningly.

"It was a name I thought I'd use for guy as a friend. First time I get to use it," Zelos laughed. "It kinda fits you." Lloyd shrugged. "See ya Bud."

The two then departed and went off to their separate classes. As long as Zelos didn't invite both Dolly and himself over or introduce him to Sebastian, Lloyd saw this friendship and work schedule going quite smoothly.

On his way to his first class, Sheena ran into Lloyd and stopped him for a moment or two. She looked a little stressed and out of breath.

"Everything okay Sheena?"

"Yeah," she wheezed. "Everything go okay with Zelos? Did he suspect anything?"

"Nope," he grinned. "I think I'm going to be winning that bet of ours. So long as he stays as stupid as he is, everything should go over smoothly." Sheena snorted at the haughty response.

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself. I may be willing to watch your back, but if you slip up bad just once to the point of my help being useless, you're screwed." She was pointing straight at his face not but an inch away from his nose. "Don't get cocky Lloyd Aurion. You may end up regretting it."

With that said and done, she bolted off to her class leaving Lloyd to simply smile in triumph. Lloyd walked into his class beaming with an aura of what seemed to be victory. He was pretty damn sure the money was his and he would be able to make the job work no problem.

Oh, how wrong he would be… but that's for another chapter~

-End chapter treso-

BanANNU :: AIIEEEEE! I FINALLY GET TO POST THIS! Thank goodness I'm no longer terrified to write this in front of my boyfriend anymore! Oh, and in case you guys were wondering, yes, Jazzimon's name is now Jazzimonster. :3

Jazzimonster :: Even though you're supposed to be the pocket monster and I'm supposed to be the trainer… Oh, who gives a fuck. YOU FINALLY POSTED MY ZELLOYD! FINALLY! *fangirl squealz*

Kratos :: *Enterz* So, are you sure there's nothing going on with me and Mithos? I was just talking to him and—

Jazzimonster :: *glarez evilly at Kratos* NO. YOU BELONG TO SOMEONE ELSE.

BanANNU :: She's right. *shrugz* Anyways, I'm going to keep this short, but I hope you guys enjoyed it… even though I probably won't have as many viewers since it's been so long… BUT THAT'S OKAY. For anyone that comes across this, I hope you love it. If you have any ideas, please throw them out in your reviews :D I love fan ideas and I love reviews… why not have them both in one awesome review! Plus it'll be good inspiration since I haven't written in such a long time. I'm pretty sure that I've lost my touch. But I'm looking forward to the long and tear jerking journey this story will have to offer. To my die-hard fans … if you really do exist … I want to say that I love you all and-… Jazzi? Kratos? What are you two doing?

Kratos :: WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M STILL GOING TO BE PAIRED WITH ANOTHER GUY?

Jazzimonster :: IT'S A YAOI FANFICTION! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU EXPECT!

Kratos :: THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT I HAVE TO BE PAIRED UP WITH A MAN! THIS IS ABOUT ZELOS AND LLOYD! LEAVE ME OUT OF YOUR SICK STORY!

BanANNU :: I refuse sexy beast =w= b

Jazzimonster :: GOOD. You heard the author. Go have some wonderful man sex with the guy we're setting you up with.

Kratos :: *flipz a random table and leaves*

Jazzimonster :: I bet he's going off to have that man sex I told him to have right now. Your little pep talk sure put him in his place.

BanANNU :: O_o;;;; … REVIEW LOVELY FANS~3 I promise there will be more story within the next few days :D I LOVE YOU ALL. *huggz jazzi* BUT I LOVE YOU MOST!

Jazzimonster :: That's right bitches. Be Jelly.


	4. Chaptero quatero

Title:: The New Job

Written by: BanANNU

Rating: M for later chapters. AS you've previously read, it's going to be a WHILE before the smut arrives. I want to state now that this story is going to be several chapters long. And as you've seen in the previous chapters, they are several THOUSAND words long. :D I leave you with these words of comfort though. The teasing will make the climax all the more enjoyable. *insert cliché drum pun noise here*

Disclaimer:

Jazzimonster :: OH MY GOD! You're writing for the same story you already updated this week. It's a miracle!

BanANNU :: I KNOW! I'm really excited to get this story going into full swing.

Jazzimonster :: My old yaoi crazed fangirl has returned~

Kratos :: -enterz- Boooooo…

Jazzimonster :: What's with you? Was the man sex I told you to have not amazing like I told you to make it?

Kratos :: Bite me.

BanANNU :: Hey Kra-chan! I still have that disclaimer for you to—

Kratos :: You madam may bite me as well.

BanANNU :: Why doesn't anyone want to read my disclaimer?

Kratos :: Because I refuse to let you carry on with this inhumane torture.

BanANNU :: You realize I can still write in my notebooks and read them to Jazzi or something over the phone.

Kratos :: As long as it's away from the public eye, I am perfectly okay with that.

Jazzimonster :: … BanANNU owns nothing in Tales of Symphonia. All she owns is Asaria and Kandee.

Kratos :: ARGH! YOU FOOL!

BanANNU :: I love you Jazz.

Kratos :: -turnz to readers- I hope you perverts are satisfied.

Jazzimonster :: I know that I am~

VARNING :: Blah, blah, blah, swearing, suggestive themes, crude humor, blah, blah, blah, sex will be later you horny bastards.

ENJOY

Chaptero Quatero

Sheena's right eye would not stop twitching. The girl was astounded at how friendly Zelos and Lloyd were when together. If Kandee and Asaria hadn't already graduated, they'd have been just as shocked and confused. She wasn't too worried about how Lloyd was acting. He was a naturally friendly person with a charismatic personality towards just about anyone. The one she was worried about was Zelos. Zelos was so out of character to the girl that it was almost scary.

As long as the redhead had been known, he was a player. Every time lunch came around, any girl that so much as shot him a glance would be flirted with til the end of the hour. Then there was the fact that Zelos HATED men, regardless of whether they were a boyfriend of a maid that worked for him or not. In fact, he usually made it a clear point to either avoid or make enemies of them. By the looks of the conversation he was actually holding, he seemed genuinely interesting in being friends with Lloyd.

After a while of utter confusion, Sheena finally decided to ignore them. All the questions running through her head about the entire situation was causing a minor pain in her temples. She proceeded to unpack her bagged lunch and open start eating her sandwich first. If Zelos was going to be out of character just because he liked Dolly, then so be it. That wasn't her problem as of yet.

"I still can't believe you haven't kissed her yet," Zelos said. "I mean she's so, well, you know. If I were you, I'd have done that the first day I'd met her."

"Dolly is special," Lloyd said with a triumphant grin. "She always has been. She's always been really nervous around the idea of doing anything other than holding hands and hugging." Sheena gagged in the middle of swallowing her sandwich. The boys simply ignored her. "I just want her to be ready before I make any unwanted advances. I don't know what I would do if I lost her."

"I guess I've never had a relationship that I actually wanted to last," Zelos said.

"Never?"

"Lloyd." Sheena rolled her eyes. Here came the speech that she and so many other girls that she knew hated with a strong passion. "As you know, I've been together with a bunch of the girls in this school. Not one of them has shone any interest in anything other than my lovely mansion and the generous amount of money that I own. As soon as I tell them they're not going to get any of it, they freak out and leave."

Lloyd pondered a moment. "Money is a nice thing to have though."

"But you see, if a woman loves you for your money because you're sharing it with her, she's only worth the one night stand. When you come across that one of a kind girl, like Dolly for example, who loves you if you're rich or poor and regardless of whether or not you were going to share your money and possessions with her, you know she's a real keeper." The redhead got an awestruck look in his eyes as Lloyd started his lunch. "You truly are a lucky man Lloyd."

The brunet nodded in agreement since his mouth was too full of rice to answer with words. Once he finally got a few spoonfuls down, Lloyd started back into the conversation with his new friend.

"I know it," he grinned.

Sheena muttered an "oh please" under her breath. Zelos didn't seem to notice, but Lloyd shot a glare over to her to let her know that he had. He really had no choice but to sound all sappy and romantic over a girlfriend he'd been going out with for over a gear that he had never kissed and wasn't actually going out with because she wasn't real… in technical terms. Sheena may not have liked it, but since she agreed she was going to help keep Lloyd's secret safe, she had to go along with anything that Zelos heard.

"So Sheena," Zelos said, catching the girl off guard. "How did you and Dolly meet?" She pointed over to Lloyd to say she'd met her through him. "Okay, so how did you and Lloyd meet?"

The girl started laughing so hard that she almost spat out the last bite of her bologna sandwich. Lloyd's face turned bright red as he attempted to signal her to make something up, but she was hell bent and determined to get back at Lloyd for the night before, even if getting him in all the dresses after he refused to kiss her was pretty humiliating.

"This is a pretty good story actually," she said, her smile going from ear to ear.

"You sure Sheena? I don't remember it being all that awesome or anything," Lloyd said nervously. "It was also so long ago, you probably don't remember everything or exactly how it went. I mean, even I have trouble remembering—"

"It was our fourth grade year," Sheena started, cutting the brunet off. "It was the first week of school as well and Lloyd and I were assigned to sit next to each other for all of our classes." Lloyd let out a small whimper, but Sheena only ignored him and his pathetic attempt at pleading puppy dog eyes. "Anyways, we hadn't really talked to each other yet, seeing as that we were still little and guys talking to girls was considered 'uncool' at the time. About halfway through the week, our math teacher was giving a horribly boring explanation on… something. I think it was multiplication. You remember Lloyd?"

The wicked grin she had on her face gave Lloyd a very unnerving feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"I think you mean English," he said in a sorry attempt to throw her off.

"Now you're just being silly Lloyd," she snickered. "Anyways, where was I? Ah yes, that MATH lesson. Like I said, it was a boring lesson about something we'd learned last year and as usual, Lloyd was drifting off. Since the teacher didn't know Lloyd was prone to napping in class, he sent him out into the hallway to 'think on what he'd done'. I'm pretty sure that he just took another nap."

Lloyd felt a sudden pat on the shoulder. He looked over to find it was Zelos giving him a sympathetic look and nodding his head. The brunet assumed that Zelos had the same punishment at some point due to slacking off in class like he had.

"Well, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Math was always super boring for me too," the redhead sighed. "Of course, I always get perfect grades."

Sheena's jaw dropped.

"But how? You've never once paid attention in ANY of your classes! You're always flirting with anything that has boobs on its chest!"

"Oh Sheena, even if that was true—"

"Which it is," Sheena growled, temporarily cutting Zelos off.

"—I'd always make sure that I'd get my work turned in on time with nothing less than the best grade I could get." The redhead winked at Lloyd shyly scratched his head. "I'll let you in on my little secret sometime. It still works to this very day."

A nod was given on Lloyd's part. Maybe Zelos had distracted Sheena enough to make her forget the story she was telling. He decided to try to keep Zelos going, because if he stopped talking, she may suddenly remember to pick up where she'd left off.

"So you always thought school was just boring too, huh?" Lloyd asked in hopes of keeping the conversation alive.

"Well, actually, I liked some of my classes, believe it or not. I just don't particularly care for the droning some of the teachers like to do. It makes something that has the potential to be very interesting to turn out to be extremely boring. Half the time, I just go home and look up what I was supposed to be learning in class that day." Again, Sheena's jaw dropped. "Now, now, it's very rude to gape like that." The girl quickly regained her composure and then glared at Zelos. "I do believe you were in the middle of a story my voluptuous beauty."

Lloyd let out a loud groan and slammed his head on the lunch table. Sheena snapped her fingers as a sign she had forgotten about the whole thing. The person that was supposed to save Lloyd from the embarrassment he didn't want to suffer turned against him. And off all the people that had to hear the story, it had to be Zelos, the guy most popular with the ladies. It could be just as bad as the time Sheena had turned nearly every girl in the school against him. Except now, it was Zelos. He could twist the words to this story to make sure that no girl in the town ever wanted to date him.

Something had to be done.

"Right you are Zelos. I'd almost forgotten about—"

The girl was abruptly cut off to a face full of a marshmallow, peanut butter sandwich. He would probably regret doing it, but at least his secret could stay safe until he wasn't around to be bright red in front of the biggest ladies man in the school.

Or so he thought.

"LLOYD'S ASS HAS A HEART SHAPED BIRTHMARK ON IT!" the girl screamed. "AND WHEN SOMEONE PINCHES OR POKES IT, HE MOANS LIKE A GIRL AT THE PEAK OF HER ORGASM!"

A heavy silence fell over the entire cafeteria as everyone looked over at the table Lloyd, Zelos and Sheena were sitting at. Lloyd's face was hidden in his arms that were crossed on the table. There were a few hushed whispers here and there as well as a few giggles, but little by little, the cafeteria went back to its usual loud chatter.

Sheena slammed her hands on the table, grabbed her purse and stalked off to the ladies room, muttering something about marshmallow cream being a bitch to get out of hair. The two boys left behind sat in silence for a few moments.

"_Well, at least the words won't be twisted up by Zelos… Just the entire school,_" Lloyd thought to himself, banging his forehead lightly on the table over and over again. "_Oh Goddess, I'm gonna have people trying to prod at my butt trying to figure out what side it's on… Fourth grade all over again._"

"You know," Zelose said, trying to start up a conversation with the bright red boy.

"I'm not telling you which side it's on just because you want to hear my 'sex noise'," Lloyd mumbled into his arms, refusing to lift his head up to look the other in the eyes.

"That's not what I was going to ask," Zelos said.

Lloyd peeked up momentarily to find not a mocking grin, but a simple smile. The brown-haired boy ducked down to hide his face again. Zelos didn't need to know or see that his cheeks were as red as Zelos's hair. He wondered why that'd happened a moment, but the thought slipped away as soon as Zelos started back up.

"You know, it's not really all that bad. I mean your butt must've been pretty good looking, otherwise she wouldn't remember it so vividly, right?"

"She left a lot out…," Lloyd sighed. "She just got too upset to tell it in detail."

Blue eyes blinked, curious as to what exactly was left out. It certainly had to be a lot or something really important for the story to jump from getting sent out into the hallway to showing off a birthmark he had on his behind. Zelos was rather interested, however…

"Well, if it's really that embarrassing, we'll just leave it that you two met in the forth grade," Zelos smiled, throwing his arm around Lloyds shoulder and giving him a comforting pat on the back. "But if you ever wanna get my most embarrassing moment outta me, you'll have to finish that story yourself."

Lloyd looked up to Zelos in utter shock. The usual response to finding out the secret of forth grade was a 'Hey, what the fuck is that over their?' and then while he wasn't paying attention, a quick jab at a random spot on his butt was given. To be promised an embarrassing story in return was completely unheard of. Brown eyes glistened thankfully.

"_Maybe he's not the asshole everyone makes him out to be,_" Lloyd thought to himself. "_Today he's actually turned out to be an awesome friend._"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Lloyd smiled.

"Heh, heh, good. I figured it would be a fair trade. I mean, I am pretty interested in how the situation changed from being told to think about what you had done to showing your ass off, but I do admit, mine is pretty bad too," Zelose laughed, giving Lloyd's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

It was another five minutes before Sheena was finally out of the bathroom, her hair all wet from washing out the sandwich. Her eye twitched again as she saw Zelos's arm drooped around Lloyd's shoulder. She had sworn that Zelos had vowed he would never ever touch another man in his whole life. But here was sweet ole gullible Lloyd proving every word that Zelos had ever said wrong. She had been wondering if it was all a hoax and Zelos was just trying to get close to Lloyd to find out how to 'steal Dolly away', but the more she looked at the two idiots just acting like normal guys, the more she wondered if Zelos would ever really put the time and dedication into trying to befriend a guy so… convincingly. Normally Zelos was pretty awkward around men, but around Lloyd… it almost seemed like they were already friends to begin with.

Lloyd looked incredibly happy too. He didn't really have many guy friends since he hung out with Sheena a lot and for some reason, she had a bad habit of repelling most men away from him. It had been a while since he had actually got to be himself around another male being… Well, apart from having to be dodgy about his female counter part. Sheena wasn't sure whether or not to be touched at the scene of Lloyd making a new friend that was his age and gender, or to be sick at Zelos being so, well, cuddly with a guy.

So again, she just ignored it for a while. Thinking about still made her head hurt. Zelos was to confusing a person to really comprehend.

For a while, she spared Lloyd the embarrassing story telling and let the two chatter and talk while she got a chance to eat. She didn't need to upset Lloyd again to the point of putting another sticky food in her face or hair. For a moment, she couldn't help but smile at Lloyd for being so happy about befriending Zelos.

But after a while, Sheena felt the need to say something.

"By the way, just in case you were wondering," she said just loud enough for the two boys to hear her, "it's on his left ass cheek."

Lloyd continued to blush straight through lunch until he got to his next class.

%%%%%%%%%%

-Where Kratos was being mentally tortured-

"Uggghhnnnnmmmaaaahhhhnn….nggh…"

"Yeah, I didn't understand a word of that Kratos," Mithos said, sighing and hanging his head. "Did you get ANY sleep last night?"

Kratos shook his head slowly back and forth. The poor redhead had been up all night patrolling the house and making sure that the windows and doors were locked up tight. He'd even woke Lloyd up once because he hadn't locked his window like he was told to. All in all, Kratos was a nervous wreck and it had only been three days since finding out about the burglar.

He had dark circles under his eyes, and resembled something among the dead rather than the living. It didn't even look like he'd taken a shower lately… which he hadn't because he was to nervous to undress himself in his own house in fear of the pervert burglar breaking in while he was most vulnerable.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Mithos asked, trying to talk to Kratos again.

"Arrrggghh-"

"Just write it down. You seemed to send me an email just fine without sounding like a zombie," Mithos said, frowning and handing the sleep deprived man a notepad.

Kratos began writing down why he wanted to be let off the case when suddenly…

*KLUNK*

Kratos finally passed out on while sitting on his couch and his head on the table on top of the piece of paper he had barely managed to make a scribble on. Mithos shook his head and went to pull a blanket over Kratos. He looked down to the sleeping man with no expression and pat his head softly as to not wake him up. Then, he gave a small smirk and lightly grabbed a small handful of hair and pulled gently.

"After this job is done," Mithos said, a dark grin on his face, "I'll find a way to make you mine."

%%%%%%%%%

-Three hours later-

"Something…smells…good…" Kratos was just waking up from his involuntary nap when he caught the aroma of something quite delightful filling the house. He barely opened his eyes to see that everything around him was on its side. "OH GODDESS, I FELL ASLEEP!"

The man quickly pulled himself up from his sleeping position on the table and immediately regretted the decision to do so. His neck had cramped and his cheek had a slight pain as well as a red mark on it. His back ached as he sat up and made an unpleasant cracking noise somewhere halfway up the spine. He made a small squeak of pain and just fell back onto the couch to hide under the blanket. There was no point at trying to defend himself when he was in no position to even stand up.

A small sigh escaped his lips as he tried to think of where the drool worthy smell of food was coming from. Obviously the kitchen was the answer. He hadn't left any windows open… unless Mithos opened one as he left. Then it could be a neighbor making a delicious pie and letting it cool off in their kitchen right next to their open window. It had to make more sense than someone cooking in his kitchen.

But then again, Mithos didn't have a key to his house. He couldn't have locked the door on his way out. So someone could be cooking in his kitchen, preparing food to get him comfortable and then while Kratos least suspected something to happen…

"_That son of a bitch!_" Kratos growled mentally. "_How dare that bastard break into my house and then try to warm me up to him by making me an apple pie! HOW DARE HE KNOW THAT'S MY FAVORITE KIND OF PIE! THAT SICK BASTARD!_"

Suddenly, Kratos heard footsteps coming out from the kitchen over into the living room.

"_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit (repeatedly)_"

"Kratos? Are you finally awake?" a familiar voice rang out.

The redhead hiding under the blankets blinked a few times in confusion as he tried to determine who the voice belonged to. It was definitely someone he knew and that knew him. That was a given. [… Yes Kratos, yes it is…]

"Silly, why are you hiding under the blanket," the voice laughed, pulling the blanket off of the hidden man to reveal a set of deep blue eyes. Kratos sighed in relief.

"It's just you Yuan," he sighed. "It's been a while. You kinda spooked me just being here and all."

"Hm? Why is that? You gave me a key to your house after all. Remember? When you called me in to babysit Lloyd when you were out on important calls back when he was a lot smaller?" the blue haired man said, smiling gently. "Plus your door was left unlocked, so I just let myself in. I figured it had been a while since we'd last hung out, so I decided to drop by and make you some apple pie."

Kratos heaved another great sigh of relief. It was JUST Yuan. Not the pervert burglar just messing with his mind by making him his favorite dessert of all time.

"You were out cold so I thought I should just leave you be. However, you did look rather uncomfortable… so I got you a pillow to kind of put… by your head. I didn't want to move your head… so I'm pretty sure it did no good in any terms of actual comfort but—"

"It's okay," Kratos smiled. "It's the thought that counts."

Yuan smiled back at Kratos and gave him a small chuckle. He then turned his head back to the kitchen and motioned to Kratos that he needed to do something back that direction. Probably just the pie. Kratos nodded him off and Yuan then walked to the kitchen.

"Hey, Yuan," Kratos yelled off to the kitchen.

"Yeah?"

"You got any plans for tonight?"

"Not really. Just to sit around and watch tv as usual. I don't have much work for the next few weeks… why do you ask?"

"You wanna stay the night?"

A silence followed the question for a few seconds. It had been a while since they'd seen each other and even longer since Yuan had actually stayed the night. Maybe it was a bad idea to kind of toss the question out so early. But Kratos needed the comfort of a friend nearby otherwise he was going to go crazy from severe lack of sleep. He thought having a friend close behind would ease his nerves a little.

"Actually, that sounds like a good idea," Yuan finally said. "It'll give us some time to catch up."

"Awesome," Kratos said in return, giving himself a mental high five. "I'm sure Lloyd will be glad to see you. I remember when he was younger and he'd always get so upset when you were busy and I needed a babysitter."

"How's he doing by the way?" Yuan asked.

"Oh, the little shit has finally gotten himself a job! And from what I've heard, it pays really well, which will be good since he's got to buy me a new mattress with his first paycheck," Kratos chuckled. "I certainly hope it's a nice one. The one he made Noishe rip to shreds was an amazing mattress."

"Heh, boys will be boys," Yuan laughed. There was a small clatter of pans following.

"You okay?" Kratos asked, the sound spooking him straight off of the couch and then falling back in pain to it again. "That sounded kinda big."

"Yeah, sorry, just knocked over a few pots, hahaha. You know how clumsy I am," Yuan laughed. "The pie is just fine though."

"That's a relief. But anyways, I'm not exactly sure where Lloyd is working, but according to Sheena, he's working as a butler of some sort somewhere. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty shocked to hear about it. A butler is the last thing I could ever see Lloyd dressing up for and working as."

"I've heard that for the most part a butler is a little difficult to get a job as around here unless you've got references. We'll just have to see where he's at when he gets home. I'm sure we won't be able to visit unexpectedly since a butler usually attends to a house, but it'd be nice to know. He also must've gotten just as it opened. Working with helping people get jobs and all, I'm pretty sure I haven't noticed any jobs for a butler open up within the last few weeks." Yuan stepped out of the kitchen with some apple pie on a plate with some whipped cream up on the top. "And here you go, just like you like it."

Kratos looked up to Yuan to find a charming smile and a nicely cut slice of pie. And that's when he noticed…

"Uhm, Yuan?"

"Yes Kratos? Is something wrong with the pie?" A sad look came to Yuan's face.

"Ah, no, it looks absolutely delicious… but…," Kratos trailed off.

"But?"

"Could I ask where you got that 'Kiss The Cook' apron?"

Yuan's eyes widened and a small pinkish tint came to his face. He quickly set down the offering of pie on the coffee table and ran off to the kitchen to take off. A small chuckle was heard as a response from Kratos to see his friend franticly run around just like the good old times when something embarrassing was pointed out.

After a bit of dashing around to take a look at the pie and grab Kratos a fork to eat his slice to eat his with [since he forgot to bring a fork out the first time], Yuan finally sat down next to Kratos, bending his head to his knees to hide his face. Kratos just smiled and took a bite of his pie.

"Ah, perfect as always Yuan," Kratos said, drooling a little. "Arrrggghhh, why has it been so long since you've been over?"

Yuan paused and looked over to Kratos uncomfortably. Kratos suddenly remembered.

"Ah, forgot. Sorry," Kratos apologized, setting his pie down. "I keep forgetting that you and Mithos are still on bad terms right now."

An awkward air of silence fell over the two friends as Kratos poked at the gooey apples filling of his pie. He wasn't really entirely sure why the two were fighting like they were. All he knew was that he told them that he didn't want to pick sides and he wanted to keep them as friends no matter what happened, thus he didn't get involved enough to really find out why the two were even fighting with each other to begin with. Kratos had also always had a respect for them and decided never to ask unless they wanted to talk about it since it had all ended with them avoiding each other as much as possible to keep talking at an absolute minimum.

And since Kratos had started working with Mithos, Yuan had started to keep his distance. Yuan had tried and tried to convince him not to actually work under someone and to just keep taking jobs from random police departments, but since the job under Mithos promised more money, Kratos really had no choice but to take it. For some reason, Yuan took the choice personally as Kratos liking Mithos as a friend more than him, so he came over less and less until for a while he just disappeared.

Kratos was very happy that Yuan was back and chose to come over on his own, but he was starting to get nervous that he had to be careful about what he said around him or it would just push his friend away from him again. Thinking about the whole situation, Kratos started to feel bad for not trying to keep in contact with the blue-haired man he'd known for years.

"Yuan, I'm really sorry," Kratos said, stabbing his fork at his pie. "I'm… really, really sorry."

Yuan tilted his head just a little in question. He understood that the apology was about him and Mithos, but to apologize so intensely was… bothersome to Yuan.

"Kratos, it's fine. You just forgot since it's been so long. I promise I'll be over a little more often than never, especially since I don't have to work as often as I used to." Yuan looked over to his friend who still seemed to be upset. "Kratos."

The redhead had turned his head downwards and his hair covered his face as he mentally tortured himself for pushing Yuan away like he had for so long. Yuan frowned and tilted his body to position itself underneath Kratos so he could see his face.

"You know, I'm going to be upset if you don't finish your pie. I worked hard on that. It was really hard to keep quiet when I accidentally burned myself when I tried to pull it out without any oven mitts," Yuan said, still frowning. "You had better eat that fucking pie or else I'm feeding it to you and believe me, I'll be telling Lloyd all about it."

A small blush came to Kratos's cheeks as he clumsily regained his composure and started eating his pie. This brought a smile back to Yuan's face once more.

"I'm putting all the stupid shit with me, you and Mithos behind me," Yuan said as Kratos stuffed his face with the warm apple pie. "It was immature of me to get upset with you for working for Mithos when we were still fighting with each other. It was a reasonable choice since it was just you paying for your house and to take care of a boy. I had never been put in the situation, so I guess for a while I thought you'd chosen Mithos over me. But that was a stupid thought. I'm sure you guys are still friends, but that shouldn't have kept me away from you and Lloyd. I've certainly missed you two."

"Yeah, you're telling me," Kratos said after swallowing down a large bite of pie. "Lloyd still goes on about you everyone once in a while. He'll be ecstatic to see you here. Of course, he's not getting any of this pie til I get my new bed."

"Heh, that should be fun…," Yuan said getting up to get another slice of pie since Kratos was already done with the first one.

"Fun? For what?"

"What else? I'm not sleeping on the couch after you get your new mattress. You're sharing that bitch with me. It's been so long since I've had a nice new bed myself," Yuan chuckled.

"Sh-sharing?" Kratos said, purely shocked. Not that he minded at the moment really. He'd be sharing the couch with him for the night and it'd be good to have him nearby if someone decided to break into the house.

"Hell yeah! We used to that all the time, remember? Or do you not want to?"

Kratos noticed the air of sadness in the question for being possibly rejected. They HAD done it for a while when they were much younger, but that had been a LONG time ago. Lloyd was sure to give him shit for it…

"_Not only Lloyd though… Yuan likes to sleep in just his boxers if I remember correctly,_" Kratos thought to himself. The blood rushed to his cheeks again. "_He never did really care about skin and skin and all the closeness when it came to sleeping. I suppose it'll be fine when I get a new mattress. I'll be sure to go with Lloyd to get a new one to make sure that it's big enough for me._"

"Nah, I'm fine with it. I'm sure Lloyd'll get a bed big enough for two people," Kratos laughed as Yuan came into the room with another slice of pie.

"Sweet! Not like it will really matter how big it is though," Yuan grinned, ecstatic. "We'll be sharing the couch until then, which is the smallest amount of space we've ever shared as a sleeping ground. Guess I'll have to sure to hold you so you don't fall off."

The blush on Kratos's face only reddened more. Of course he would offer to do that. That was just like Yuan to say something like that.

"_Oh get that stupid blush off you're face you damned idiot. It's not like he's going to do anything to you,_" Kratos told himself mentally, accepting the plate of pie. "_He's your best friend. Of COURSE he wouldn't do anything to you. You've known each other for years and never once has he done anything out of all the times you've slept in the same area together._"

"Are you okay Kratos? You're face is awfully red."

"I'm fine, I'm fine… Oh, hey Yuan, have you ever had a peanut butter marshmallow sandwich?"

%%%%%%%%%%

-At Sheena's house just an hour before Lloyd had to set off to work-

"No," Lloyd growled at Sheena. "I fucking refuse."

"Aw come on Lloyd! There is absolutely no reason for you to be so stubborn about it. I actually think that it'll make it a lot easier on you if you did it… and a lot more comfortable to… and it would feel better…," Sheena said, trying her best to sound convincing.

"And what if it hurts? Or itches? That would be WEIRD to just start complaining about it in the middle of work in front of Zelos or Sebastian!"

"Oh please, it feels amazing the first time, especially if you do it right. It's only when you start getting lazy that it could end up messy. Plus, it'll be worth few brownie points if Zelos ever gets to see em," Sheena cackled evilly. "He may even be a little jealous."

"As if. He won't ever see them. EVER."

"And why the fuck not?"

"Because, I refuse to do… THAT to them. I'm very proud of how hairy they've gotten over the years. The next thing you're gunna want me to do will to be to get a sex change so there won't be any man left in me!" Lloyd exclaimed, taking a few awkward steps away from the girl. He was being forced to walk around in some heels to get even more acquainted with them. "Please, let's just leave them alone."

"Come ON Lloyd, you can't just keep wearing thigh high socks all the time. You have GOT to shave those hairy ass legs of yours. What if one of those curly… THINGS decides to peek out at Zelos? That would be absolutely disgusting!" Sheena grimaced.

"Not if he knew I was a man," Lloyd said, sticking his tongue out. "…Oh wait… you do make a good point. But still. I could just wear another pair of socks or panty…hose… over the first pair right? Then the hair wouldn't slip through… RIGHT?"

Sheena shook her head as she walked towards him with a razor she'd just bought for him on the way home. But Lloyd was still determined to keep her from putting something so deadly for his manliness so close to him.

"Oh, and your armpit hair. That has to go too. It's such a good thing that it all went to your body and not your face. That would be such a pain in the ass to deal with. Cause doesn't it usually grow back to prickly things in just a few hours? …Oh wait, you wouldn't know would you?" she taunted.

"I really, REALLY hate you Sheena," Lloyd snarled. "Give me a GOOD reason why I should do this. I DO plan on going to the pool sometime this summer and if the ladies see my hairless legs and armpits… worse yet, the guys… I'll be made fun of so much that I'll never be able to go to the pool. EVER."

"Get the fuck over it. Zelos does the same thing and he doesn't let it bother him."

"That's because he hates all men! He doesn't give a shit what they have to say in the first place! Me? I've got to make sure that I could at least show my face in public until I graduate at least! He doesn't have to worry about it because he's a ladies man no matter what. He'll just have to flirt with new girls and he'll be fine. It would take forever for me to be accepted back into society," Lloyd whined.

"I'm pretty sure if you stay buddy buds with Zelos, he'll willingly help you get out of any social trouble you get into. Just. Shave. Your. Legs… PLEASE. For your sake of being found out and sued for money you don't have," Sheena frowned.

"… If I get cut, I'm blaming you," Lloyd mumbled.

Sheena frowned and said, "Uhm, I'm not shaving them for you. That's gross. The blame will be all on you cause you're going to shave them yourself."

Lloyd groaned a clearly audible "fuck" and took the razor for himself and headed off to the bathroom to shave off his "manly" hair.

%%%%%%%%%%

-At Zelos's Mansion-

"Oh my goodness Dolly dear, your legs are absolutely glowing today!" Zelos swooned having seen Lloyd walk in with Sheena. "You're free to go Sheena. I quite approve of today's outfit. It's very fitting."

Sheena simply rolled her eyes at Zelos and waved Lloyd off seeing as that it was time for her to leave. Lloyd mentally begged her to try and stay for just a little while, but it was to no avail. She clearly hadn't heard him.

As the doors shut, Zelos took hold of Lloyd's [You know, I'm having a hard time deciding when to say Lloyd's name and when to say Dolly's name when he's dressed as Dolly… It confuses me… Please, comment, if you want to of course, and let me know what I should do] hand and dragged him over to Sebastian.

"So today, Sebastian here was going to show you how to do the laundry. Of course, this doesn't really take that long to learn. We only wash the clothes once a week. It's the folding or hanging that tends to take a while. But as you're waiting for things to wash and dry, Sebastian will let you know some of the other chores you could be doing if you want to do them. Of course, I don't blame you if you wanna just come and hang out with me," Zelos grinned, raising his eyebrows and giving Lloyd a sly grin.

"Ahahahaha… I'm sure there's lots of things that need to get done. I wouldn't mind learning a few more things from Sebastian," Lloyd laughed, coughing afterwards since the girly voice had tickled his throat a little.

"Awwww, there's no need to be shy," Zelos smiled more deviously. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, I met Lloyd today!"

'Dolly' made a small gulp and waited in anticipation for Zelos to tell him what he had thought of his meeting with the 'boyfriend'. Instead of a disgusted look, Zelos only smiled deeper and more softly.

"You really are lucky to have a guy like him around. I can tell that he treats you with the respect that you rightfully deserve," Zelos said, his voice softened a tad. He almost had a melancholic look to his face as he spoke of Lloyd. "He's quite the handsome devil too. It's too bad he's not a girl. I'm sure I'd fall for him in an instant."

[kekekekekekeke…]

"You'll have to be sure to invite him over sometime sir," Sebastian suggested.

"Ah! That's a delightful idea! Probably sometime this week, while you're not working of course Dolly dear. Then he could see my lovely mansion for himself. I'm sure you've told him all about it, hm Dolly?" Zelos asked, beaming with pride.

Lloyd was too busy having his mental breakdown again to respond right off the bat.

"_Oh shiiiiiiiit, is he really going to invite Dolly and me over for whatever reason just because? Ohhhhhh shiiiiiit, this is what I was so worried about and Sheena said it would never EVER happen because he was supposed to hate men, but he doesn't hate me, and oh shiiit what the fuck am I going to? I'm going to kill Sheena… Yeah, that'll cause enough distraction for him not to invite us both over. He'll be too upset over his vulturous… volumness… whatever beauty to really care about meeting both of us together and, and, and—_"

"Dolly dear? Are you all right?" Zelos asked, waving his hand in front of the seemingly dazed face of his maid. Lloyd snapped out of his trance and nodded to motion that he was okay. "So what about having Lloyd over sometime while your not working? Would that be okay? You don't have to come though of course if you don't want to. I'm sure after a while you'll get enough of this place that you won't want to come other than when you're working…"

"Yeah, I can come," Lloyd said, not thinking on who he was answering for because of his mental freak out. For all he knew, he was answering for Sheena at the moment.

"Oh so you'll both come? That's wonderful! Let's see, you work for the next few days… Let's have you two over on Friday after school. This is perfect!" Zelos swooned. "I'll go get a few things ready for what we should do."

It was when Zelos walked off to leave Lloyd with Sebastian to learn about the laundry and various other house hold chores that he realized what he had just gotten himself into without meaning to. Sebastian just smiled and pat the boy on the head.

"By the way master Zelos has been going on about him, he sounds like a wonderful person. I certainly hope that master Zelos can keep him as a friend. He most certainly needs the male contact every once in a while," Sebastian chuckled. "All the lady encounters are certain to drive him up the wall one of these days."

Lloyd sighed, nodded and said, "You're telling me."

"_I am SO screwed._"

-End of Chaptero Quatero-

BanANNU :: Oops… Well, I was supposed to be posting this within the same week of posting chapter three, but I got a little distracted… as usual… CURSE YOU ROGUE GALAXY AND CATHERINE AND DEAD SPACE FOR BEING SO DELICIOUSLY GOOD!

Jazzimonster :: -breathing heavily- I even commented… on how good you were doing… to be writing within… the same week as posting… chapter three…

BanANNU :: Ah haha –sweatdropz- Well, I DID start typing within the same week…

Jazzimonster :: -grabz BanANNU- WHY DO YOU MAKE ME WAIT SO LONG BETWEEN YOUR CHAPTERS TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS YAOILICIOUS STORY YOU ARE WRITING!

Kratos :: -enterz- KILL HER! KILL HER OFF AND MAKE SURE SHE DOESN'T WRITE ANYMORE OF THIS INHUMANE INSANITY SHE CALLS A STORY!

Jazzimonster :: -glarez at Kratos- If you don't remember correctly, Zelos did mention something in the disclaimer to BanANNU… and I quite liked it. And since it hasn't been written yet, she must live.

Kratos :: Ugh, remind me to kill that bastard when I get the chance.

Jazzimonster :: No, he can't die either. He's included in what he mentioned earlier.

Kratos :: GODDAMMIT –flipz a random table and walkz away-

Jazzimonster :: I told him to go and have GOOD man sex, but did he listen to me? NOOOO of course not. He had to go and have rushed man sex that probably makes him cranky just like he was now. Oh and by the way, where was all the touchy, touchy Zelos on Lloyd action? There was just hugging and shit! There must be groping if there's not going to be action until later chapters!

BanANNU :: I promise that there will be more in the next chapter :3 heh heh…

Kratos :: -ragez at a random old lady crossing the street outside-

Old Lady :: Get a job you hippy!

BanANNU :: … Well, anyways, I am sorry that this took so long to post. Again, I was distracted… by my lovely video games… w But I am taking a break from them for a while and dedicating myself to story. –serious this time- Time to make my watchers that I've gotten happy. I can't wait to see all your reviews too. It makes me so happy to see that you've all read my story and liked it :'DDD

Jazzimonster :: Be sure to come back and see when the next chapter is posted! It will be soon! Other wise I'll be sure to give her a good clobbering.

BanANNU :: :D… I should make some apple pie…

Jazzimonster :: -givez BanANNU evil eye of death, doom, and damnation-

BanANNU :: :D … oh shit that was for me. O.O –writez- Love you all my dear readers~

-editz-

BanANNU :: PLEASE REVIEW :'D It inspires me~


	5. Chaptero cinco

Title :: The New Job

Written by :: banANNU

Rating :: M for later chapters. I've just found out that I can't post my hard core smut here on fanfiction D': So unfortunately, when that comes around, I'm just going to post a link to my deviantart and to . This is just a heads up for when this happens. :3 You'll see a chapter with a few words and a link… Don't flip out when this happens XD The link will send you to the chapter ^^ Yay~

-In response to reviews because I love all of you so much~-

ZaphiraX :: I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story x3 Your advice was actually really helpful :D Thank you so much! I hope to get some more laughs out of you :3 Especially in the later chapters when the REAL trouble starts…

jazzimonster :: e u e hee hee… -huggles-

Disclaimer ::

BanANNU :: Okay, I'm hell bent and determined to post this within the same month as chapter 4! And I've got a plan to help me do it, so I'll be posting about once or twice a month on a Sunday morning! You had better be looking forward to it until the very end! It would be every week or something along those lines, but I've got another fanfiction I want to write, as well as an original story.

Kratos :: -Enterz- That fanfiction doesn't involve me does it?

BanANNU :: Actually, no :D

Kratos :: -fist pumpz- THERE IS A GOD!

Jazzimonster :: - Enterz- Ah! I see you finally had that awesome man sex I told you to have. –patz Kratos on the back- Good for you Kra-chan. Oh~! That means you know who we paired you with? Oh my~!

BanANNU :: And Kratos, since you're in such a good mood, you should totally read the—

Kratos :: Fucka you! –exitz-

BanANNU :: Well shit.

Jazzimonster :: He must be going back for more. –grinz-

Lloyd :: -enterz-

BanANNU :: Oh, oh, oh! Lloyd! You should totally read this for me! :'DD

Lloyd :: -shakez head- I know what you're up to. I don't support it one bit. –blushz a bit while looking away-

Zelos :: -enterz-

BanANNU :: Z-ZELOSSSSS… -puppy eyez-

Zelos :: -sweatdropz & hugglz Lloyd-

Lloyd :: Zelos, don't encourage her! It'll only give her more inspiration if you do this in front of her!

Zelos :: Its not like I don't already do this when she's not around –grinz- And its not like she owns us or anything in the Tales of Symphonia games anyways~

Jazzimonster :: -pointz to BanANNU- And that is our cue!

Kratos :: -enterz- I'M GOING TO KILL—

Anonymous female voice :: Enjoy the fic.

VARNING :: This chapter contains some depressing material and invasion of people's personal space bubbles… because that's always fun. Swearing and crude humor are still included.  
Sorry. No Buttsecks yet.

-ENJOY-

Chaptero Cinco!

"You said you agreed to WHAT?" Sheena snapped at Lloyd. "How in the fucking… fuck… fucker…FUCK are you supposed to get out of this? You are NOT two different people! You, at this moment, barely make up one person as it is! Lloyd…"

It had barely been a minute since Sheena had arrived with Kandee and Asaria to pick the boy up and Sheena had already begun her enraged scorning. Lloyd knew full well that he had deserved it. He noticed that he'd been having a bit of an issue on losing his cool whenever something trivial and or nerve-wracking came up. He figured if he ever got out of this situation, he would start to work on that. At the moment though, keeping calm was a little difficult since Sheena was freaking out so much. It was a good thing Kandee had decided to sit in the middle of the two that day. Lloyd was positive that Sheena would have tried to have wrung his neck.

So as Sheena continued ranting at Lloyd, and Kandee casually sat in the middle of them, Lloyd mentally drowned her out to try and think of something that would help him get out of the situation he'd ever so clumsily gotten himself into. Staying home sick for the day probably wouldn't work. Kratos would wonder why he'd be leaving to go somewhere and then ground him for not actually being sick. And if was forced to stay home, not even Dolly would be able to show up to explain what had happened for Zelos. Saying Dolly was randomly sick could possibly work, but coming in the next day for work and appearing to be just fine could raise a suspicion or two. Sheena may have had doubts on Zelos being able to figure much out, but Sebastian was a whole other story.

"_Oh, why do I have to not pay attention at the most important part of a conversation?_" Lloyd thought, making a soft groan of aggravation.

"Hey Lloyd, are you there?" Sheena asked, reaching past Kandee to wave in her hand in front of his face to pull him from his thoughts. "You weren't even paying attention, were you? That is exactly what got you into the mess you're in right now."

Lloyd blinked and then hung his head. He'd managed to do it again, thinking that it was nothing but Sheena rambling. Usually, she'd get so caught up in her yelling that she wouldn't even notice that he'd dozed off. That obviously wasn't the case this time around.

"Anyways," Sheena started back up, knowing she had Lloyd's attention this time, "why don't we think of some situations that we can put you or Dolly in to keep you from getting caught."

"What if Lloyd just stays home sick?" Kandee suggested, trying to help out.

"He'll still want to see Dolly," Lloyd said, quick to answer. "And Dad wouldn't let me leave home if he found out I was only pretending to be sick.'

Sheena was stunned to see that Lloyd had actually been thinking of ways to get out of the situation he'd placed himself in. Usually, he'd let other people, mainly Sheena or Kratos, get him out of problematic… problems. Needless to say, despite that he wasn't really paying much attention to her, she was impressed.

As the three brainstormed, Asaria, who had been half listening in, pulled over to try and help out. She turned the car off and turned to the three in the back.

"How about we say Kandee, Sheena and I just decided to take cute little Dolly for a girl's night out since she has the day off?" Asaria suggested.

"That just might work," Sheena said, seeing Lloyd didn't have anything to counter the suggestion right of the bat.

"Yeah, we'll say we gave her no choice," Kandee agreed, clapping her hands together deviously.

The three girls seemed to be getting more and more confident with their idea as time passed. There weren't any immediate ideas that came to Lloyd's mind that could possibly turn the situation bad, so Lloyd started to smile, thinking this was the answer.

"So," Sheena started up again, "we'll just tell Zelos that she has no option but to hang out with us on Friday. He'll probably get all upset, so you'll still have to go and keep him company."

That's when a warning thought ran through Lloyd's head.

"But what about Sebastian?" Lloyd panicked. "Zelos may not be smart enough to put two and two together, but Sebastian definitely seems more capable of doing so."

"You see Lloyd, that's the thing about Sebastian," Sheena softly smiled. "If Zelos demands that there's absolutely nothing wrong, Sebastian will push it aside as if it were so. Plus, it seems that Zelos thinks rather highly of you as Lloyd. I'm sure if Sebastian so much as suspects anything of you, he'll simply pull you aside to talk and say what he thinks. You're a good person Lloyd. You won't try to take advantage of Zelos, so Sebastian won't try to rat you out just to make you miserable. It's only if you're a threat to making Zelos severely unhappy that he may mention something to the idiot."

Asaria had already started driving again and it wasn't long after that when they'd reached Sheena's house. Lloyd was feeling considerably better than he was when he'd told Sheena what he'd accidentally done. And now it was finally time to get out of his frilly apparel and back into the comfy clothes he'd grown to be familiar with through most of his life; a nice t-shirt and jeans. Just the thought alone was enough to make the boy sigh contently and smile.

"C'mon Lloyd. I'm sure you wanna get home and relax," Sheena said, pulling the boy from the car. "We'll see you guys tomorrow."

Both Kandee and Asaria waved to Sheena and Lloyd before Kandee jumped into the passenger seat and signaled to Asaria to drive off. It wasn't long before they turned a corner and were no longer in sight. Sheena then smiled and turned to Lloyd to lead him into her house.

Before she unlocked her door though, she heard a small rustling in the bushes nearby. She quickly turned to the source of the noise to try and figure out what or who it was she had heard, but Lloyd's complaining of his legs being cold hurried Sheena to getting them both inside. The girl brushed it off as a stray cat or dog that had make a quick break for the bushes once it had spotted the two walking up to the house.

Once inside, Sheena turned to Lloyd as if she had been meaning to talk to him about something for a while.

"Have you changed the bandages on your hand since Corrine bit you?" she asked.

Lloyd's eyes widened as he remembered the red mark a certain person had caused earlier that week. He quickly nodded his head to tell her that he had. The last thing he needed was for Sheena to find out what had happened to what was only supposed to be a bite mark. No doubt she would tell Kandee and Asaria about it and he'd get crap for a good week and then randomly every once in a while for the rest of his life.

"Yeah, I had Sebastian change it for me today while Zelos was distracted actually," Lloyd said, laughing nervously as he ran up to Sheena's room to change.

Before the girl could so much as ask if she could see for herself, Lloyd slammed the door shut, locked it and screamed that he was already naked, which immediately deterred her from entering her own room. The girl sighed in disappointment.

-At Lloyd's house-

"Yuan!" Lloyd yelled in happiness and tackling the blue haired man out of his seat on to the ground. "It's really you, Yuan! Where the hell have you been? I've fucking missed you!"

Lloyd hadn't even taken three steps into his own home before he saw his old babysitter and had tackled him. Kratos muttered a quick "I told you so" to Yuan before he got up from the couch and pulled Lloyd off of his friend.

"Come on Lloyd. You guys will have plenty of time to catch up," Kratos grunted, tossing Lloyd to the side. "He's going to be here for a few days, so you can tell him all about how much you missed him in a bit. Right now you're probably a bit hungry. Yuan made some actual dinner, so why don't you go get yourself a plate?"

A look of pure joy had appeared on Lloyd's face as he grabbed Yuan's arm and dragged him off into the kitchen with him to get a plateful of what was more than likely, warm food, fresh from the oven or stove. Kratos let out a small sigh and shook his head. He'd always known Lloyd to cling to his best friend, but it'd probably been so long since he'd last seen Yuan that he just needed to get a few things out to him right then and there.

As Yuan got a plate of what appeared to be a chicken dish of some sort, Lloyd's excitement boiled over and he gave the blue haired man a huge hug.

"Geez, Yuan, I haven't seen you in almost two years," Lloyd said, clinging to the older man. "Why haven't you come by to visit? Dad and I have missed you so much! And I've got so many things I've got to tell you about it's driving me crazy! I've even got a new job that pays a LOT of money!"

Yuan just smiled as he placed the plate he'd gotten ready for Lloyd on the counter and returned the hug. That only made Lloyd grab on to him tighter and bury his face into his chest. The older man kept smiling and pat the brunet softly on the head.

"Oh my Goddess, I have so much to tell you," Lloyd trailed off and lowering his voice. "So much has gone on since you've been gone and it's driving me mad."

The boy made a soft punch at Yuan's side.

"Is this about your job for Zelos?" Yuan asked quietly.

Lloyd's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. It was a good thing that Yuan hadn't handed him his plate of food, otherwise he would've dropped straight to the floor, which would've pissed Kratos off to no end since the dinnerware was originally Lloyd's grandmother's.

"H-how did you—?"

"Hey, we'll talk about it later. I'm pretty sure it's too early for Kratos to find out about it," Yuan said in a whisper and giving Lloyd a quick wink. "Kratos has been pretty tired lately, so I'm sure we can talk after he finally gets some shut eye. I'm sure you've got plenty to get off your chest so you don't accidently spurt it out to the wrong person."

"Yuan," Lloyd said.

"Yeah buddy?"

"You're awesome… even if you've got the hots for my dad," Lloyd laughed.

"Let's get out there and eat some food before he starts to get too suspicious of what we're talking about," Yuan said smiling and handing Lloyd his plate.

-Later that night after Kratos was asleep on the couch…-

"And so Sheena shows me the dress that I've got to wear. It's the frilliest and laciest thing I've ever seen. I don't even think it should be legal to wear outside of a role-playing couple's room." Yuan let out a small chuckle as Lloyd continued his story of how he'd gotten tricked into working for Zelos. "So she forces me into that thing and then makes me wear make-up… MAKE-UP. You know, that stuff that a girl friend of yours goes to the store to get says they're looking for blush and you say you've found it and she tells you that you found eye shadow or something like that. And then she says she wants to pin my hair up or something and…"

Yuan continued to listen to the story as Lloyd went into great detail about how Zelos had made moves on him as he was dressed up as Dolly as well as how they were becoming friends when Lloyd was at school. And as he continued, Yuan would give a random chuckle here and there as Lloyd made a few hand gestures to get into detail about the situations.

It wasn't long before Lloyd had finally caught up to what had happened that day before he'd gotten home. Lloyd found it relieving that he could get everything that had been bothering him off his chest. He had a feeling if he hadn't been able to do that, that he may have snapped way before the deal he had made with Sheena was close to being done.

"Oh my Goddess, it feels so great to be able to do this." Lloyd heaved out a heavy sigh and hanging his head. "If you let me do this at least once a week, by all means, if you can get my dad to like you, you can have at him."

A laugh was given in return to Lloyd's words.

"I'm glad to have your approval," Yuan smiled. "But anyways, I'm sure you're curious to find out how I knew that you were working for Zelos in the first place."

"Yeah, I am pretty curious," Lloyd said, nodding his head slowly. "You kinda had me scared for a moment. I thought somehow dad found out and told you. I know you wouldn't have had much of a problem about it, but I'm sure dad would've had quite a bit to say."

Yuan got up from his spot on the floor and took a seat next to Lloyd on his bed. "Well, you already know what I work as," Yuan started. "I work to help get other people jobs. Anyways, your dad managed slip out that you were working as a butler of sorts. I know for a fact that there are no butler positions around this town. The only person that has anyone work for them as a butler at all is Zelos Wilder." Lloyd let out a sigh. "Well, I knew that he constantly needs more maids to work for him because he tends to... detour women away from the position not too long after they start. To my knowledge, the longest any maid has ever worked for him has been maybe four or five months, right about when Sheena quit. So it was well past the time that Zelos was going to ask to let other people know that he had a position open for a maid. And when I heard that you had gotten a job as a 'butler', I managed to put together a guess of what had happened."

"Wow, you really are as smart as I remember you being."

"What, you think that I've gotten stupider since I've last seen you?" Yuan laughed, grabbing Lloyd around the neck in a headlock and roughing his hair up a little. "You really are a little brat, you know?"

All Lloyd could manage to do was laugh as he attempted to get the much stronger man off of him and possibly get a few soft punches in. However, Yuan was determined to keep the boy in his grasp to wear him out just enough to the point that he'd want to get to bed soon after. Lloyd could only laugh as he swatted at the blue haired man to try and get him to let go.

"You haven't gotten much stronger since I've last seen you," Yuan grinned. "How are you ever gunna best me in a wrestling match if you can't even break out of a simple headlock? I thought you said you'd keep up your training until you beat me."

"Ow, come on!" Lloyd said, starting to sound a little out of breath. "You were always the one that kept me up on my training! How did you expect me to have kept up with it after not seeing you for so long?"

"Shame, shame, shame! The only way to keep up training is to do it on your own! You can't just depend on me to keep you in shape you lazy bum!" Yuan got up from the bed, bringing Lloyd up with him. This gave Lloyd a chance to try and slide out from underneath Yuan's grasp, but it was to no avail. Not long afterwards, Lloyd flopped over in sign of defeat. "You done already? I swear you used to last much longer than THAT!"

Little crocodile tears were shed to try and convince Yuan to release Lloyd. All Yuan could do was shake his head in disappointment and finally let Lloyd go to fall down in bed, exhausted.

"I'll fuckin' show you one of these days. I'll get so good that I'll be able to knock you unconscious in one hit," Lloyd grumbled, pulling his blankets over himself to try and get comfy.

"I'm sure you will," Yuan chuckled, going over and ruffling Lloyd's hair up a little.

Yuan was just about to take his leave when Lloyd spoke up just after Yuan had turned the lights out.

"You know Yuan," Lloyd murmured. "Dad's really missed you. He's been a little lonely without you coming over to visit every so often." Lloyd was starting to doze off little by little. "I know it sounds silly, but he talks to himself about you a lot. I think he blamed himself for something… about you and… someone…"

But Lloyd had already drifted off into a comfortable and deep sleep. A small snore could be heard soon after he'd trailed off from his last sentence. Smiling, Yuan quietly closed the door as he left to go downstairs.

"_It seems I left these two at a bad time,_" Yuan thought to himself. "_Me and my horrid timing. I'm sure I've caused Kratos unwanted stress. I certainly hope I can make it up to him, even if he isn't mad at me._"

Yuan was now at the bottom of the stairs. He quietly looked over to the man he had so long admired. A small, melancholic smile appeared on his face as he watched Kratos roll over in his sleep and grab at a small pillow. To Yuan, he was nothing less than perfect. How Kratos could blame himself for Yuan's stupid actions was beyond him, but Yuan felt the need to try and make up for it. He had to. Otherwise, he'd lose Kratos as a friend for good.

The man then walked over to the couch to sit down at Kratos's feet. He looked the redhead over, slowly, rediscovering why he'd fallen for him those many years ago.

Kratos's hair was such a radiant shade of auburn red, which happened to be Yuan's favorite color, and happened to be the very reason they had met. Then there were his lovely eyes, which were unfortunately closed at the moment. Yuan had fallen in love with them the moment they'd made contact with his own. And his soft, flawless skin. Yuan remembered when they were much younger and he'd somehow manage to get Kratos to sleep shirtless and get their backs to touch. It was pure bliss to the slightly older man. He ached to just have a small touch at his stomach as the man slept, but he bit back the urge. The last thing he wanted was to scare Kratos away at a time when their relationship as only friends was unstable and rocky. Yuan couldn't bear the thought of Kratos himself finally not wanting anything else to do with him. The mere thought was enough to cause Yuan's stomach to churn uncomfortably.

"At least I can sleep next to you," Yuan mumbled. "I'm so glad… that you'll still allow me at least that."

Yuan then slid behind the man he loved and grabbed him around the waist to bring him closer. He was disappointed that he couldn't convince him to sleep shirtless like he'd so easily done when they were younger, but beggars definitely couldn't be choosers. And Yuan had to admit that he was happy to have Kratos laying in his arms and slowly snuggling his way closer to his chest.

"_I couldn't ask for anything more. You are too precious to ask to give anything else than what you've already given to me._"

-The next day-

Kratos slowly opened his eyes to find sun rays shining down on his face, which resulted in him squinting his eyes shut. He grumbled about something about needing to close the curtains when he got up. However, he was comfy and decided it may be a little while before he even got up.

"Who knew couches could be so comfy?" a gentle voice came up behind the redhead.

The man then froze, momentarily forgetting that he had a visitor. He started to relax as he remembered that it was only Yuan, who was supposed to be sleeping behind him. It was no wonder Kratos was so comfy. Yuan was always rather good at making close quarter sleeping comfortable for anyone involved. Kratos then nodded his head in agreement and nuzzled his way underneath the blanket Yuan had placed over him the night prior and snuggled up closer to his friend's chest.

Kratos had always been able to find comfort in being physically close to Yuan. He'd never known exactly why, but since it had been so long since he'd gotten his fix of comfort, he got as close as he could to his blue haired friend. Warmth had completely encased him and he started to drift off again. That was when he felt a soft breath of air coming from Yuan's nose start to tickle his ear. The sensation brought a small feeling of heat to the redhead's face.

"_It's been forever since he's been so close to me. It's really… nice,_" Kratos thought to himself. "_He's always been such a relaxing person._" Kratos tried to cuddle even closer into the man's chest. "_Goodness, I've missed this so much._"

As Kratos had gotten just a little bit closer to Yuan, Yuan unconsciously pulled the redhead closer to him by squeezing him gently around the waist. A small, nearly inaudible squeak made its way out of Kratos's mouth, which only made the red on his face darken.

"Just a little bit longer," Yuan mumbled, nuzzling his face into Kratos's auburn hair.

This only made Kratos smile gently, and nuzzle into a small pillow he'd grabbed before he'd fallen asleep.

Suddenly, the doorbell went off, making Yuan instantly sit up and resulted in Kratos falling off the couch. Groaning was heard immediately afterwards from the floor.

"Who the fuck is ringing my doorbell THIS early in the morning?" Kratos growled. "Lloyd probably isn't even up for school yet."

Kratos looked up and over at his friend. Yuan's hair was an absolute mess and he had a few red marks on his face from lying on Kratos's head. Even while sitting up, it appeared that he was still in a sleeping state. It wasn't long before he fell back onto the couch and pulled the blanket over himself to fall back to sleep.

Seeing as Yuan wasn't planning on getting up anytime soon, Kratos decided to get up and see who it was at the door. If it was a random person trying to sell him something, or a religious door to door "spreader of happiness", he'd leave the door alone and get back to the couch until he wanted to get up. Having not gotten much sleep for a few days, getting back under that blanket next to his friend didn't sound like a bad idea.

However, once he saw who was at the door, the thoughts of sleep were all but occupying his mind.

"Shit," Kratos said after looking through the peek hole in his door. "What the fuck is Mithos doing here?" Kratos quickly looked over to Yuan, who had just rolled over and pulled the blanket over himself. The redhead quickly went over to Yuan and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, Yuan…"

Yuan slowly opened his eyes and once they met up with brown, a small smile of pure happiness slid onto his face.

"Good morning, sunshine," Yuan said to his friend. "Do you need something?"

For a moment, Kratos paused and was at a temporary loss for words. The look of utter bliss that Yuan was giving him had to be the cutest look he had seen in a very long time. The smile alone was enough to make Kratos melt..

Shaking his head to get rid of the fluttering feeling he had bubbling up inside his stomach and up to his chest, Kratos nudged Yuan a bit to silently tell him that he was going to have to get up. A small sigh made its way out of Yuan's mouth.

"What do you need?" Yuan asked, still quite a bit groggy. He had grabbed the pillow Kratos had been laying on and was clutching it to his chest. "By the way, you have got the most adorable mess of bed head right now."

"I need you to make sure that Lloyd is up. He's got to get ready for school," Kratos said, trying to hide his blush as he pat down his hair. This only made Yuan giggle a bit. "We've got to make sure that he isn't going to be late."

"Heh, heheh, okay," Yuan said, getting himself up to sit at the side of the couch. "But first, I've got to fix up your hair."

"You aren't one to talk."

"I'll get to mine in a minute. You look like you've got something more important to do."

Kratos couldn't help but to agree, seeing as that Yuan really hadn't given him much of a choice. The older man had gently tilted Kratos's chin up to face him with one hand and started to fix the 'adorable mess of bed head' with the other. Yuan may not have been looking him directly in the eyes, but something about the gentle and caring look on his face had Kratos in a trance-like state. He couldn't help but to stare up to his friend as he let his hair get fixed up.

It wasn't too long before Yuan pat the soft red hair he'd come to love so much to motion that he was done. He then got up off of the couch to walk up the stairs to get on with waking Lloyd up. Before he vanished into Lloyd's room however, he turned back to Kratos, who was still sitting on the ground in front of the couch.

"Is it okay if I use your shower and bathroom to clean up?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure. If you don't remember where something is, just ask Lloyd about it. I'm sure he'll be more than willing to help," Kratos nodded, finally standing up from the ground. He quickly brushed himself off to gain a little composure.

As soon as Yuan disappeared upstairs, an impatient knock came to the door and Kratos hurried to answer it. He made sure to keep it closed enough so that no one else but him knew that it was Mithos at the door.

"H-Hey, Mithos," Kratos stuttered uncomfortably. "What are you doing here so early in the morning?"

"Heh, in case you don't remember, you did pass out in the middle of our conversation. I'm pretty sure you had mentioned that what you wanted to talk about yesterday was really important," Mithos said, tilting his head just a bit. A hollow smile was given. "I thought you'd be up earlier since you passed out quite early in the day yesterday. I do apologize if I'm over a bit too early, but I assumed that you would've been up a few hours ago."

"Yeah, I woke up not to long after you left… I think. But anyways, I'm fine right now," Kratos said "And I, uh, I've changed my mind about yesterday. I was going to let you know that I didn't really want to do the case anymore, but I've put some thought into it and I'm sure I'll be fine."

Mithos then very suddenly closed in on Kratos, getting within just an inch of his face. He'd made sure that Kratos couldn't jump back by forcing his hand past the door and roughly grabbing the redhead at the back of his neck.

"M-Mithos? W-What're you-?"

Mithos then squeezed the scruff of Kratos's neck, grabbing some of his hair in the process. He'd tried to bring Kratos out of the house and closer to him, but the man put a stop to it by placing his hand on the frame of the door and pulling back away from the blond.

"Mithos, that… hurts…," Kratos said, wincing a bit at the sharp pain. "Please, Mithos… Let me go."

It was another few seconds of the blond holding Kratos in place and staring rather sternly into his eyes before Kratos was released. Kratos pulled away as soon as he was able to and took a few steps back away from the door and rubbed the back of his neck.

"_What the fuck was all that about?_" Kratos quickly made sure that his friend hadn't torn any skin. When he was sure he hadn't, he timidly looked back to the doorway. "_Well, I hope I didn't piss him off by saying I changed my mind… I still can't believe he fucking did that to me._ _ Better ask what the fuck is up…_"

Kratos walked back to the doorway and looked at his friend. He'd made sure to keep the door a little more closed this time around so there weren't any sudden grabs at his neck again.

"Dude, what the hell was that all about?" Kratos asked, a bit nervous to even be asking the question.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I'll be back in a few hours after you wake up a little more."

Something in Mithos's facial expression had Kratos a little on edge. He was giving him the look that he'd give someone if he was really ticked off about something and had been holding it in for a while. It had been a while since Kratos had seen that look. If he remembered correctly, it was a look he'd worn frequently when Yuan was around right before they'd completely stopped talking to each other. Kratos quickly turned around and then back to Mithos to see if Yuan had come back downstairs for something, but when he saw no one there, Kratos was starting to think it was something he'd done to upset Mithos.

"I'm… sorry if I upset you in some way," Kratos apologized. But when the look on Mithos's face didn't change and nothing was said in return, Kratos swallowed nervously and looked down to his feet. "I-I guess I'll see you in a few hours. I… gotta make sure Lloyd is getting ready for school."

All Kratos got as a response was a displeased grunt of some sort and a nod. With that, Mithos turned around and walked off. Kratos quickly closed and locked the door behind him and sat up against it to slide to the ground. His heart was beating in his chest at a hundred miles per hour and his stomach was doing back flips. The way Mithos looked at him with such anger had him extremely nervous. Never in his life had Mithos given him his look of death with such a passion.

He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a long, heavy sigh. Since Mithos would be back in a few hours, he had to find a way to get rid of Yuan until Mithos was gone for the day. The last thing he needed was for Mithos to get so upset that he completely cut Kratos off from working for him. A confrontation between his only friends that hated each other's guts would definitely throw Mithos over the edge into an uncontrollable rage.

"_I'll just send him to the store with some money to pick up some groceries…_" Kratos heaved out another sigh. "_Hopefully Mithos won't be over for too terribly long. I'd hate to keep Yuan out forever._ _There's so much that we need to catch up on…_"

"Hey."

The voice spooked Kratos from his thoughts. When he found it was only Yuan, he relaxed a little and looked up to the speaker in question.

"Are you all right? You look like you've seen a ghost…"

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Kratos, feeling awful for lying through his teeth. "Those crazy door to door salesmen… You know how weird they can be on getting you to buy their product."

"How'd you manage to mess your hair up like that?" Yuan asked, looking a tad bit upset. "Did you slide down the frikkin door?"

So Yuan came downstairs and started to redo Kratos's hair.

"And you know," Yuan started up again, "I won't be angry at you if you just tell me it was Mithos who was at the door. I'm pretty sure he stopped by because he's none too keen on the idea of me being over…"

"You mean he saw you?" Kratos asked, a bit stunned.

"Nah, but I saw his car out the window. I'm assuming that he saw mine as well and had to see if I was really inside your house after so long," Yuan sighed, just finishing Kratos's hair. He then stood up and crossed his arms across his chest, taking up a leaning position on the wall. "He can have an issue with me as much as he wants. I don't really give a shit. I'm over him hating my guts. But if he starts taking out his frustration and anger on you because he can't find me to vent at, you had better not hesitate on letting me know. He has absolutely no right to be doing that to you of all people."

The stern look on Yuan's face was a rare look that Kratos had hardly seen, much like the expression on Mithos's face not too long ago. Yuan looked over to Kratos and the look on his face softened some, but not much.

"I'm serious though, Kratos. If he so much as raises his voice at you because of me, please tell me. I'm not afraid to give him a piece of my mind. Yuan got himself off of the wall and started making his way back upstairs. "Well, Lloyd is up. I'm going to take a quick shower."

That said and done, Yuan gave Kratos a quick smile and disappeared up the stairs once again. Half hoping that Yuan would come back down the stairs for something or to maybe ask a question, Kratos stared at the spot of the upper floor where he'd last seen Yuan disappear to. He couldn't put his finger on it, but whenever Yuan was anywhere nearby or was talking to him, he felt at ease. Since it had been so long since Yuan had been so close by though, the comforting feeling was definitely more noticeable this time around.

After he saw that Yuan wasn't coming back anytime soon, he finally got himself up off the floor and walked over to the window. There was a small sticker on the top window pane. Kratos brushed his fingers over the sticker and smiled at the memory on how it had gotten there.

His late wife, Anna, who had died in a car accident many years ago, had taken a liking to picking Lloyd up when he was just a baby and holding him up high to see everything she could. At one point, Lloyd had been rummaging through some sticker book a relative had given him for a birthday and he had pulled off a sticker that was in the shape of a flower. Anna noticed that Lloyd was pointing towards the window, so she picked him up from the ground, thinking he wanted to look outside. As soon as she brought him close enough that he could touch the glass on the window though, he stuck the sticker, clapped his hands, and laughed. Anna had become so flustered about it since Kratos was always getting upset when Lloyd would poke his stickers at anything, mainly since they would were a hassle to get off of whatever surface they were stuck to. At the time though, Kratos thought that his wife reacting that way was the cutest thing he'd ever seen while Lloyd casually clapped his hands together and told her how the pretty flower was for her.

Now, even after many years had passed, the sticker was still there, a little more worn than it had been when it was first placed there. Kratos sadly looked out the window, and as he did, his mind floated to the fond memories he had shared with Anna. The more he thought of Anna however, Yuan seemed to slip back into his mind. Anna had always liked Yuan… they were great friends while she was still alive.

Kratos grasped the curtains in his hands and sighed, thinking of all the wonderful memories he'd had with the two people he'd cared so deeply about. Mithos was here and there in a few, but Yuan had always made a point to be there in the times he was needed. The redhead couldn't help but smile to himself.

"I haven't felt this feeling with anyone else but you Anna. Should I be allowed to feel this way with anyone anymore? Would you be angry with me if I did?" Kratos said softly to himself. "I have a feeling you wouldn't be, but still… I don't know if I should be as happy as I was when you were here… I don't know, Anna." Kratos brought his arm to cover his face to stop any tears that may have been coming. "I just don't know."

After a moment of quiet sulking, Kratos slowly shut the blinds and closed the curtains. The room became very dark as Kratos made his way over to sit on the couch in silence.

%%%%%%%%

-Later in the day during lunch at school-

"WHAT?" Zelos exclaimed, slamming his hands down to the table. "What do you mean that you just decided to take Dolly away from us on Friday? Surely she told you that she and Lloyd were going spend the day with me?"

Sheena was grinning triumphantly after telling the redhead the plans she, Kandee, and Asaria were going to do with Dolly the day Zelos wanted her over. Lloyd was sitting quietly between the two, happily eating his food and ignoring the bickering for the most part. Zelos was nearly foaming at the mouth after hearing the unfortunate news.

"I'm sorry Zelos," Sheena apologized, shrugging her shoulders. "You know full well how Kandee and Asaria can be. Once they've set their minds to something, it's not easy to change them." Sheena looked over to Lloyd who was in the middle of a bite of leftover chicken dish. "I'm pretty sure that Lloyd can still come over to see you and Sebastian though."

Zelos looked over to the brunet who reluctantly nodded in agreement. This calmed Zelos down enough to reclaim his seat, but not enough to get him to start eating again. Instead, he turned his glance back to Sheena and started impatiently tapping his fingers on the table.

Proud that the plan had gone exactly how she had wanted it to, she resumed eating her bowl of white rice and sweat and sour chicken. Zelos continued to glare at the girl, but once he noticed that she wasn't going to pay attention to him anymore, he turned his sights back to Lloyd. He softened his look a bit before he spoke to him.

"Well, since it's just going to be us guys, you wanna go out and have some fun, just you and me?" Zelos asked Lloyd.

"Really?" Lloyd said, swallowing his food. "You mean just us?"

Lloyd's eyes sparkled in a fierce look of what appeared to be excitement. It had been a long time since Lloyd had spent his spare time out with anyone other than Sheena, and that usually consisted of a day full of shopping or begging him to take her to a movie she wanted to see that he had no interest in ever watching. Going out with Zelos didn't sound like too bad of an idea.

"Yeah, just the two of us, Bud," Zelos laughed, raising in eyebrow in confusion. He wasn't so sure what had Lloyd all worked up. "We can go to one of my favorite hangouts, if you don't mind a few girls walking up to you to ask you to dance."

"Wait, wait, wait," Sheena spoke up. "Isn't it usually the guys' job to ask the girls to dance?"

"You'd be surprised," Zelos chuckled, loosely throwing an arm around Lloyd's shoulders. "I'm sure as good looking as this guy is right here, he'll have his fair share of girls come up to him to ask him to dance. Now Lloyd…" Brown eyes met slim blue. "You do know how to dance, right?"

There was a small moment of silence and then a quick shaking back and forth of Lloyd's head. Zelos heaved a sigh and then pat his hand on his friend's head.

"Well, that's okay Zelos," Sheena said. "He's got a girlfriend anyways, so he could just decline any girl that walks up to him."

"That's no way to have fun Sheena!" Zelos said, frowning at her. "He can dance with a few girls if he wants too. If anything happens to get too serious, I can always step in and sacrifice myself to the woman that needs a male human body to satisfy her needs."

Sheena snorted out a laugh. "I would hardly think you'd think it was a sacrifice. You just wanna have some random chick who doesn't know you at all as your booty call whenever you need one, which certainly has to be a lot."

Blue eyes rolled to tell the girl he didn't need her opinion.

As Zelos and Sheena started going back and forth at each other once more, Lloyd started eating his food again, wondering what kind of a place it was that Zelos was going to be taking him to. By the sounds of it, it was either a dance club or a bar. Of course the bar had to be out of the question since neither of them was old enough to drink alcohol or smoke a cigarette legally.

"I'll teach you how to have fun Bud," Zelos said, turning his attention back to Lloyd. "I'll be sure to point any ladies away from you if you need me to. I'm sure they won't be too much of a problem since I'm usually the center of attention. So, you'll be okay with that?"

"Yeah!" Lloyd said, beaming happing up at the redhead in agreement. "I'll have to let Dolly know about it. I'm sure she won't have too much of a problem."

"Heh," Zelos laughed.

He was going to add a small, cocky remark after his laugh, but something had him momentarily caught on Lloyd's smile. The innocence in it was something Zelos wasn't used to. There was a momentary fluttering feeling in the boy's stomach he wasn't used to either, but Zelos forced it away, thinking he was just hungry.

Unbeknownst to the redhead, Sheena caught the speechless look he had given to Lloyd and immediately became suspicious, even if it was for a few seconds. She had already noticed that Zelos was considerably friendlier when Lloyd was around, and had been wondering why since the two had met, but now that she noticed that… LOOK, a small realization dawned on her. Zelos actually LIKED Lloyd. Of course, she only saw it as a friend like, which was still shocking because Zelos had never been known to be friends with a guy since most anyone could remember.

"Oh Goddess," Sheena said, standing up from the table. "I'll be right back."

The girl quickly made her way to the bathroom, leaving the two boys behind to sit and wonder what had come over her all of a sudden. However, it wasn't too long before the two struck up another friendly conversation. This time, it was Lloyd to start the talking.

"I wonder what's gotten into her," Lloyd said, shaking his head. "Anyways, what place are we going to go to this Friday?"

"Ah, nothing too terribly fancy," Zelos smiled at the brunet in response. "Just a fun little dance club not too far from my mansion. I usually go there once every other week to see some new faces."

"That sounds like so much fun!" Lloyd laughed. "I've never been to a place like that. My dad's a bit weird about letting me go out to places he doesn't know. But now that his friend is over, he shouldn't be so strict about it."

"Your dad sounds like such a stiff," Zelos snorted.

"He is most of the time. He wasn't always like that though…"

Zelos caught an air of sadness in the other's words and was tempted to ask why, but figured it would be better if Lloyd spoke about it on his own accord. He couldn't figure out why he was so interested in the slightly younger male. He'd didn't care about boys at all up until he'd heard about his maid's boyfriend.

Of course, his intentions at the beginning were going to be to break the two up to get a chance at the adorable maid that was working for him, but as soon as he'd met up with Lloyd and they're eyes met, he couldn't help but to be friendly towards the innocent brunet. Not to mention the immediate similarities between Dolly and Lloyd had caught Zelos at a disadvantage. The fact that Lloyd looked so much like his girlfriend made Zelos feel a bit attracted to him, though Zelos would only admit to the attraction being the lowest amount anyone could feel for anything at all.

Zelos shook his head back and forth as a he told himself now wasn't the time to be comparing the good looks of his maid and his friend. He was just talking to the boy sitting next to him. He was just taking him to a dance club. He was just going to show his friend how to have a good time. It didn't matter if he was just the slightest bit attractive in Zelos's eyes.

"_No, he's NOT attractive,_" Zelos demanded mentally. "_He just looks a lot like the cute, and adorably sexy maid that works for me now… who is his girlfriend…_"

"Zelos?" Lloyd asked, waving his hand in front of the other's face. He'd been quiet for about a minute, just staring at Lloyd. "Are you okay?"

"Ah, yes, I'm fine," Zelos responded, smiling that trademark grin of his to help push away any hints of what he'd been thinking. "I'm just trying to… er… imagine what color would look best on you for that club."

Lloyd let out a laugh. "Red of course!"

Zelos stared hard at Lloyd, now that he was actually trying to imagine the color on him, and nodded. Even though the brunet was wearing a black shirt at the moment, it wasn't too difficult to imagine him in a red garb of some sort.

"You know, I think you may be right about that. You should probably throw some black in there as well." Zelos grabbed Lloyd's jaw and tilted his head up to fully examine his face. This resulted in a heavy blush on Lloyd's part as well as a downcast gaze to avoid full on eye contact with the man holding his face up. Zelos had gotten uncomfortably close to see the color of Lloyd's eyes because the younger was making it rather difficult to see them by looking away from him. "Look up at me really fast, Bud."

But before Lloyd do as he was asked, there was a loud thud from behind Zelos. The two looked in the direction of the noise to find that it was Sheena. She had just about fainted after seeing the close proximity of the boy's faces. From her point of view, it looked like they were just about to kiss.

"Is there a reason that you must insist on dropping things when you come out of the bathroom?" Zelos frowned, displeased with the dramatic reaction.

"Wh-w-what are you doing to Lloyd!" she said loudly, pointing at the redhead.

Zelos tilted his head to the side ever so slightly in confusion. The way Sheena had been acting around him when he was around Lloyd was a bit questionable in his opinion, as well as Lloyd's.

"I was getting a good look at his eyes," he said, as if absolutely nothing was wrong. "I was just trying to make sure the best colors for him to wear would be red and black."

A snort was heard on Sheena's part as she brought herself up from the floor, brushing herself off. "Of course he looks good in red and black. Red has got to be the best color on him, when he's wearing it of course."

Zelos had finally let go of Lloyd's jaw to continue to talk to Sheena. The blush he'd made when Zelos had grabbed him was still there, so he decided to hide his face in his arms until his face wasn't nearly as hot as it currently was. It was just like Zelos had said, he was simply looking at the boy's eyes to try and figure out a color for him.

"_So why did I get so worked up over that little touch then?_" Lloyd thought miserably to himself. "_He's just my friend… he's just trying to help me out a little… He just got really close to my face… …He's got really nice eyes._"

"Hey Bud!" Zelos yelled, slamming his hand on the boy's back and startling him. "I wasn't done! Let me just—" Zelos grabbed Lloyd's face, this time with two hands, one on each side "—get a GOOD look at those eyes…"

He didn't know how it was possible, but Lloyd's face had gotten just a shade redder than it had been before. And as if it were a reflex, his eyes were once again looking down and off to the side. This only made Zelos frown and close in on the slender face he was holding.

"Lloyd, it's kinda hard to look at your eyes when you're not looking at me," Zelos said, still frowning. "It'd be nice if you looked up at me. I'm not going to hurt you, Bud."

It was a few seconds before Lloyd decided to look directly at Zelos. At first, Zelos was merely scanning the brown eyes, finding their exact color and shade, but after a while, Zelos was just looking. Something about the color in Lloyd's cheeks made him pause to just stare.

"_He has such a… feminine look…,_" Zelos thought to himself. "_It's… rather cute…_"

Sheena had started to frown at the silence and brought her hand in between the boy's faces and shoved Zelos back a foot or two. This made the redhead flip out.

"What the fuck was that for?" he exclaimed. "You should know better than to touch my marvelous face!"

"You were staring," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "You were probably making Lloyd just a little uncomfortable." She grinned a haughty grin at the other and then looked down to Lloyd. That's when she saw the blush on her best friend's face. "Lloyd? Are you feeling okay? You're all red."

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," he said in response, rubbing the back of his neck and slapping a smile on. "I'm just thinking about some… homework… assignment… Yeeaaahhh…"

"_What is THIS?_" Sheena thought as the other two at the table continued eating, occasionally exchanging a few words here and there. "_Bu-but Lloyd is… Why would he…_"

"Seriously, Sheena. No one wants to examine your tongue, teeth, or anything else of the like. Stop. Gaping." Zelos was now glaring at her, appearing to be done with her jaw dropping open as often as it was. He then turned to Lloyd and picked up a conversation about the coming Friday.

%%%%%%

-At Zelos's mansion-

-…Before Dolly arrives…-

Zelos was currently sitting on his bed, his hands laying comfortably behind his head as he looked up towards the ceiling in deep thought. He couldn't get the look he'd seen on Lloyd's face earlier that day out of his mind for some reason, no matter how hard he tried. He'd thought that thinking of Dolly would help some, but that only turned right around back to Lloyd. The fact that they were so similar in looks and innocence didn't help the matter one bit.

That look though… it had such a cute aura to it that Zelos never would've thought a man would be able to pull off. And come to find as he befriended Lloyd a bit more, Lloyd was fairly masculine in terms of living his life… so why would that face, the face of a man, hold such feminine features in it?

"_It was such an adorable look… There's no way that they can't be related in some way. They're hair and eye color… The facial structure… They HAVE to be related. But if that's the case, I certainly hope they're not really dating. Maybe Lloyd… just has a little sister complex and has to make sure that no one takes her until he, or she… finds just the right guy for her,_" Zelos thought to himself. "_Maybe being friends with him really isn't too bad of an idea. If I can win his approval, he may allow me to date her… if they really are related…_ _ If they aren't, I guess I'm shit outta luck._ _Heh._" The blushing face he'd held earlier slipped back into his mind. "_Well, if something doesn't work out…_" Zelos held his hands up so he could examine them. "_And his face was so soft…_"

A knock came to the door, pulling Zelos from his thoughts. He sat up immediately.

"That you Sebastian?"

"Yes sir. I've just come to tell you that Dolly is going to be a little late today. It appears that Sheena went to take her shopping for something." This brought a smile to the redhead's face. "Do you mind if I come in sir?"

"Go right on ahead, Sebastian," Zelos said, laying back down on the bed and resuming the position he'd been in just moments prior to Sebastian making his appearance. "I've actually got a little something on my mind…"

The door slowly opened and the butler allowed himself in, walking over to his master. He had brought in a tray with a cup of warm tea on it. Zelos saw this and took the offered drink after putting a spoonful of sugar into it. He took a sip and then turned his gaze back and up to the ceiling.

"What is it that you would like to talk about Master Zelos?"

"It's got to do with this Friday," Zelos said. "So Dolly can't come over since Sheena and her friends said they suddenly had plans and wanted to take her with them, so Lloyd, her boyfriend, is gunna come over and we're going to go to that dance club down the street. I'm kind of nervous really. I haven't had a night out with a guy friend in years. And Lloyd is a really good guy. I'd really like to prove that I can be a good friend to him."

"If I may be so bold," Sebastian stepped in. "Is there any chance that you may harbor some feelings for this Lloyd character?"

Zelos's eyes widened as he turned to his butler and violently shook his head back and forth. This earned a humble chuckle from the elderly man.

"You always have been bad at lying sir," Sebastian said. Zelos frowned in disapproval at the words. "But if you insist, I'll play along until your ready sir. Until then, I urge you to go on with what you were saying."

"Yes, anyways, I kind of just want this to be an enjoyable night for Lloyd. I don't want him to think anything bad of me and not want to hang out again." Zelos took a sip of tea and then placed in on a dresser right next to the bed. "To be honest, I'm happy that he's so friendly and actually wants to hang out this Friday. It's been so long since I've had some time out with someone I can call a friend."

A small smile found its way to Sebastian's face as his master continued on about Lloyd for another half an hour. It didn't appear that Zelos needed any words of wisdom, just someone to talk to about a small crush he had for someone that he couldn't admit to even himself. It had certainly been a while since Zelos had a sit down talk with the butler like this one. The boy had been much younger and at the time was speaking of a girl in the same manner. Of course, being no older than ten, he didn't want to admit to the crush back then either because apparently liking a girl would result in cooties and other childish antics that Zelos had wanted to avoid.

Once it appeared that Zelos had reached an ending point in his conversation, he turned over to Sebastian with a look that suggested he needed some soft of guidance.

"I have no doubt in my mind, if this Lloyd is indeed as wonderful as you claim him to be, then Friday will be fine. Just be yourself, sir, and everything will be just fine," Sebastian said, smiling. "And I don't mean be the person you've let everyone think that you are. I'm sure Lloyd wouldn't mind seeing the real you."

"_The real me…_" Zelos finished off his tea and handed it over to Sebastian, motioning he wanted to be alone. "_I can barely remember that person anymore._ _ It's been so long since I've allowed myself to be like that._"

It was another half an hour before Zelos heard the doorbell ring, which resulted in him bouncing up from his bed and out of his room. As confused as he was about Lloyd at the moment, he was sure of one thing, and that was that he definitely harbored feelings for the lovely female waiting outside his mansion.

He watched from his balcony as Sebastian opened the door, allowing Dolly in and waving Sheena off. Dolly had appeared to be trying to say something to her friend as Sheena started away from the door, but Sheena either had not heard Dolly or had completely ignored her.

"_Well that's certainly strange behavior from Sheena,_" Zelos thought.

Continuing to watch the little maid, he smiled as she bowed to Sebastian and quietly asked a question about what needed to get done. Today wasn't going to be too hard a day for her. She'd just have to do some laundry and dusting here and there. For the most part, Sebastian made sure to keep the mansion clean while Zelos was away. Zelos generally wanted a maid around to either look at and hit on or just be there for some extra company.

It was then that Dolly looked up to Zelos, a faint red coming to her cheeks as she smiled and shyly waved up to him. This made Zelos crack a sly grin and make his way down the stairs. Once downstairs, he took Dolly's hand, the one that wasn't in bandages, and kissed it.

"It's certainly nice to see you hunnie," he smiled, giving her a small wink.

Dolly took the hand back, too embarrassed to say anything in return.

"So has Lloyd or Sheena told you about this Friday?" The maid nodded silently as a response. "You don't mind that I'm taking Lloyd to the dance club do you?" Dolly smiled and shook her head back and forth. "You trust him that much, huh?"

Zelos had to admit, he was rather jealous. Of who, Lloyd for having such an understanding and trusting girlfriend, or Dolly for having a boyfriend that couldn't possibly think of cheating on her, he couldn't quite tell. Either way, he was determined to keep the both of them happy so long as he was around.

"Yes, sir," she smiled. "He's not the type to run around or stare at other girls."

"I can certainly understand why, if you know what I mean," Zelos grinned, giving her a wink. The blush that followed only encouraged the flirtatious behavior. "I swear, you two are the luckiest people in the world to have found each other."

In the background, Sebastian had to hold back a small laugh. The way Zelos was so unsure on his emotions and what to do anymore around Dolly was unlike anything he'd seen his master do before. Sebastian could tell that Zelos was having a difficult time restraining himself around the girl because he didn't want to chance upsetting Lloyd, but the way he spoke of the other boy so fondly, he could tell that the admiration wasn't all directed at the girl standing in front of him anymore.

"Dolly was just asking what you would like her to get started on today," Sebastian spoke up at last after Zelos had exclaimed how cute Dolly was and had embraced her in a hug. The two looked up at him. "I was thinking I could help her get started on the laundry."

"That sounds like an excellent idea, Sebastian!" Zelos agreed. "Just give me a minute."

Zelos was now nuzzling his face into Dolly's neck, and appeared to be smelling her.

"_Why does he have to be so close?_" Lloyd whined subconsciously. "_And why did Sheena insist on buying me perfume and another dress? It's almost like she's trying to get Zelos to fall head over heels with me when I'm a girl._"

"…smell so good," Zelos muttered. "And so soft…"

"_Why does Sheena feel the need to be so evil to me after she's already got me in the most humiliating clothes a guy could ever wear?_"

-End of Chaptero Cinco-

BanANNU :: Holy cow, that was LONG! I do apologize for the length of this chapter compared to the others. Of course, I've always had a problem ending chapters or stories to begin with.

Kratos :: -enterz and glarez at BanANNU evilly-

BanANNU :: What's your problem? Haven't you vented enough? You nearly put Zelos in the hospital!

Kratos :: How COULD you!

BanANNU :: How could I what? –tiltz head-

Kratos :: YOU ARE THE SPAWN OF SATAN!

BanANNU :: ^^;; I don't understand…

Jazzimonster :: -enterz- WOOT! I GOT TO READ THIS FIRST BIATCHES!

Kratos & BanANNU :: -sweatdropz-

BanANNU :: I don't think it's a good idea to rub it in everyone's faces xD That's not very nice.

Jazzimonster :: Really? I don't see a problem with it. –turnz to Kratos- What's your problem Crabby Patty?

Kratos :: -continuez glaring at BanANNU- I HATE you.

Jazzimonster :: ?

BanANNU :: Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Sorry that there wasn't that much lovey dovey shit… HOWEVER, I do plan to make their Friday… VERY… enjoyable. I just kinda wanted to build up the story with Kratos and Yuan a little bit. And sorry that it was a little depressing towards the end of the scene for Kratos's part Dx I'll be sure to make the next chapter twice and funny and three times as sexy! :D Oh I'm gunna have so much fun with the next chapter…

Kratos :: -flipz table- HOW DARE YOU! –exitz in a rage-

Jazzimonster :: … Well… Someone is on their period this week… And it DEFINITELY isn't me.

BanANNU :: Don't forget to review~ I love suggestions for my stories :'D Be sure to submit some ideas in your review, in an email to me, or send me a private message :3 I read everything that anyone sends, and will respond if the message calls for me to :D I'm so happy that I've gotten a few more followers~~~ It continues to inspire me to write on!

And as a side note… I'll try to actually post within the next week. My work schedule calls for a ton of overnight shifts so I'll have plenty of time to write :'D I write to make you all happy~

Jazzimonster :: That and I demand that you do. AND YOU HAD BETTER MAKE THE NEXT CHAPTER SEXY AS HELL!

BanANNU :: :D REVIEW AND I WILL!


	6. Chaptero seiso

Title :: The New Job

Written by :: BanANNU

Edited and proofread by :: Jazzimonster

Rated :: M for later chapters. So I've decided that I'm just going to make an account to post my smutty chapters on :D I don't want to get in trouble with the staff Like I said last chapter though, when I do get to the smut, I'm going to just put a link to the chapter that has it :3 Be on the look out… even though we still have a ways to go before that happens xD Sorry about that guys. I'm pretty big on having a good story line.

-Review Responses because I care for each and every reviewer and watcher~-

None… *goez and criez in emo corner* I had so many people look at it too… and not one person reviewed…

Disclaimer ::

BanANNU :: I'M STARTING THIS CHAPTER BEFORE THE FIFTH ONE IS POSTED!

Jazzimonster :: Now let's see if you can finish and post it … in one week.

BanANNU :: :D … I will try.

Yoda :: Do or do not, there is no try.

BanANNU :: WTfudge? Who said that?

Jazzimonster :: Have you seen Kratos anywhere?

BanANNU :: … No I haven't. Usually he's in here at the start of the disclaimer to try and stop me from saying that I own nothing and no one from Tales of Symphonia… except Kandee and Asaria. I own them.

Jazzimonster :: …

BanANNU :: Dammit, now no one can say that for me this chapter D:

Yuan :: -enterz-

Jazzimonster & BanANNU :: :OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

BanANNU :: *O* It's Yuan! This is the first time he's shown up!

Jazzimonster :: Do you know what happened to Kratos?

Yuan :: Yeah. He's off somewhere plotting with Lloyd on how to destroy the person who created this fanfiction. –shrugz- I feel sorry for that person.

BanANNU :: -whimperz- Q ~ Q

Jazzimonster :: Well, since you've already told everyone who and what you do and don't own in this fanfiction, it's time to get on with the sexiness that you promised all of us.

BanANNU :: YES! ON WITH THE FIC!

Yuan :: -makez a peace sign- Enjoy yo.

VARNING :: This chapter contains a bit more sexual encounters than the previous chapters and more funny scenes than chapter five… Though, I'm not sure if I should be warning you about simple humor. Anyways, swearing and crude humor will still be in this chapter.  
Once again, I'm sorry that there's no smut. I appreciate your patience in putting up with me ^^

-ENJOY-

Chaptero Seis…O!  
*derp*

Lloyd was not particularly happy to find his Dad's boss's car right outside his house when Sheena dropped him off. He had never really taken a liking to Mithos, but since he'd found out that Mithos was the main reason Yuan had been gone for so long only fueled the great disliking he had for the arrogant blond. With any luck, Yuan would be hiding out upstairs, just waiting for either Mithos to leave or for Lloyd to come up and greet him.

Heaving out a clearly audible sigh that no one was around to hear, he opened the door to his house and waved to Sheena. The girl waved back and drove off. Upon walking in, it appeared that Mithos was getting ready to leave and managed to walk into Lloyd on the way out.

"Hey brat," Mithos growled low enough so that only Lloyd could hear.

"Asshole," Lloyd said in return, shoving his way past the man.

It looked like Mithos wanted to say more, but Lloyd had slammed the door behind him, not wanting to hear what it was. To have been called brat right off the bat had pissed Lloyd off enough. Usually Mithos was a little more well-mannered in the beginning because he knew that Lloyd would report directly to his father about the problem, but this time around he didn't seem to want to bother with formalities.

Yuan was definitely home, and Mithos knew it. Lloyd only grinned in satisfaction.

"Hey Dad," Lloyd called over to Kratos. "Where's Yuan?"

"In the kitchen making dinner," Kratos said, pointing him in the direction Yuan was in. "Try not to slam the door so hard next time. It's bad for the house."

"Sorry," Lloyd said, brushing him off and dropping his school bag to the floor and making a dash to the kitchen. "_Yuan's a lot more daring now than he used to be around that douchebag._"

The smell of home made hot pot had Lloyd's mouth watering before he'd even stepped foot inside the kitchen. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed Yuan's cooking since the man hadn't shown up. Having him over for a few days was definitely a plus to Lloyd's week.

Hearing Lloyd's footsteps upon entering the kitchen, Yuan turned, and when he saw Lloyd, he smiled gently. Lloyd had made a beeline straight for Yuan to give the man a hug and then peek around him to see how the food was coming along. It wasn't going to be too long before it was done.

"You appear to be in a good mood today," Yuan chuckled. "Something happen I should know about?"

"Yeah, but you've totally got to tell me about Mithos being over!" Lloyd was overflowing with curiosity. "He looked so fucking pissed when he walked out the door. He didn't even bother with trying to be nice to me when he saw me coming in."

"Heh, well," Yuan started, turning to Lloyd and leaning up against the counter, "your dad sent me off to the store to pick up some groceries around the time he was supposed to be coming over to visit. Mithos was still here when I'd gotten back… and you missed out. The look on his face was of complete disgust after just seeing me. When he found out from Kratos that I was going to be staying a few days, I swear, he looked like he was about to pick up the chair he was sitting in and throw it at me." Lloyd smirked. "Of course, since your dad was still in the room, he only faked a smile and continued on about some assignment your father had. Of course, I had to push his buttons a little. So I walked out of the kitchen after putting the groceries away and gave your dad a friendly little hug and asked if hot pot was okay for dinner. I'm pretty sure that the man wanted desperately to break something."

Lloyd sighed in content that the bastard had gotten what he'd deserved. He'd only wished that he'd been around to see it all happen. The boy was certain that he could've helped piss Mithos off way more than Yuan had by actually sitting in the room and randomly talking about Yuan.

Lloyd loved pissing his dad's boss off.

"I hope I'm home the next time he's over." Lloyd got bowls and plates out. "I sooooo wanna help you tick him off."

All Yuan did in response was give the boy a pat on the head and hurry him out to got fetch his father for dinner.

%%%%%%%%%%

Wednesday and Thursday had gone by like a normal days for Lloyd, minus having to dress up in two new dresses for his job. He'd met up with Zelos and Sheena at the lunch table and they chattered their usual chatter. Sheena was still having an issue with how close Lloyd and Zelos had gotten in just three days of formally knowing each other. The fact that Zelos was so touchy around her friend had her concerned and suspicious, but she decided to keep her thoughts to herself.

Lloyd's portion of the days as Dolly weren't terribly off either. He'd learned how to clean the massive kitchen from top to bottom as well as the bathrooms in the mansion. He was starting to catch on to how easy his job was and was starting to enjoy it more. Half the time, Zelos would pull Lloyd away from his cleaning to just talk to him. Usually it was stuff he already knew about from talking to the redhead earlier in the day, but Lloyd had found Zelos to be very intellectual about many things.

The only thing Lloyd hadn't quite gotten a hold of was being hit on so much, even though Zelos knew full well that Dolly was taken. He assumed that Zelos was just naturally flirtatious when it came to girls, even if they had a boyfriend. It wasn't like Dolly was actually real, so Lloyd didn't feel the need to get upset about it when it came to just being a guy.

And now, it was Friday morning. Yuan had come to wake him up from his sleeping like he had been for the past week. Lloyd didn't mind that too much. Yuan was considerably nicer at waking him up than his alarm clock or his dad was. He'd make sure to gently coax Lloyd from his sleep and as soon as he was awake, remove the covers from him with a simple smile. Of course, he wouldn't do that if Lloyd actually needed to wake up. The covers were only stolen from the boy as a method to make sure he didn't fall back to sleep.

As if Lloyd could go back to sleep anyways. He was too excited about getting to hang out with Zelos later that night. For the first time in a while, Lloyd immediately got out of bed and ran out to get ready. He took a quick shower. Once he was done, he jumped out, grabbed a towel, and looked at his newly acquired colognes. He hadn't been allowed to wear any of them yet since Sheena didn't want him to smell like a guy when he was dressed as Dolly, just in case Zelos decided to catch on to Lloyd's secret. At last, he was able to try on the limited edition scents that Zelos had so eagerly given to him. Lloyd picked up a glass bottle that said "Chosen" on it and took a small whiff of it after spraying it once in a random direction.

This was the cologne that Zelos wore nine times out of ten. The smell had Lloyd in a trance. He closed his eyes and smiled, a brief image of his friend grinning at him. He could almost feel Zelos holding his arms out and embracing him in a tender hug…

"_Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell am I thinking?_" Lloyd frowned, a scarlet blush coming to his cheeks. Lloyd looked down at the bottle and set it down. The last thing he needed was to start thinking some silly uncontrolled fantasies. "_I'm pretty sure he wouldn't want me to smell like him anyways._"

So Lloyd picked up another random cologne and spritzed it on himself two times. He didn't want to waste the expensive bottles that he probably wouldn't be able to find on his own. This one was a smell he wasn't quite so familiar with since he hadn't smelt it on Zelos yet.

"_It's not too bad,_" Lloyd smiled. "_I'll have to ask Zelos where he got this and if it's still available… I wouldn't mind making this my everyday smell._"

Suddenly, Lloyd's phone went off. He looked to it curiously to find a number calling him that he didn't recognize. It didn't look like a toll free number… in fact, the area code was the same as his. Lloyd picked up his phone.

"Hello?" Lloyd answered.

"Bud?"

"Z-Zelos?"

"Heeeeey Bud!" Zelos exclaimed happily over the phone. "I'm glad Sheena gave me the right number! She's was so cranky when I called her that I thought she's just give me some random number." Lloyd chuckled, knowing full well how Sheena could be in the morning. "Well, anyways, I just wanted to be sure that this was the right number before I added it to my phone and started texting you. Oh! Hey Lloyd?"

"Yes?"

"Could you meet me over by the bathrooms near the cafeteria before school starts?" Zelos asked. "I've something I want to talk to you about."

"Yeah, that's fine," Lloyd responded.

"Great!" Zelos sounded like he was about to end the conversation when… "Oh! One more thing..." Lloyd waited for the other to start talking. "What're you wearing?"

The question had completely caught Lloyd off guard so much that he almost dropped the phone. He was very grateful that Zelos couldn't see the intense red color his cheeks had become.

"I-I-I just got o-out of the shower," Lloyd said, embarrassed beyond all belief.

There was a momentary pause before Zelos spoke up again.

"So… you're…"

A long, awkward silence ensued. Lloyd was too embarrassed to answer, even if he was wearing a towel, and Zelos was too busy trying to imagine the scenario. And as the silence hung over the two, Lloyd buried his face in a hand to hide his embarrassment, even if there was no one around to hide it from. Finally, Lloyd spoke up.

"I'm not naked," he said quietly. "I-I'm wearing a towel…"

There was a loud KLUNK noise from Zelos's side of the phone, followed by a barely audible curse word, and some rustling noises.

"Dropped the phone… sorry… I, uh, didn't mean to ask you at such an, er, awkward time. I was just hoping you'd, uhm, have some sort of an idea of what you'd be wearing to the club tonight." Zelos coughed, trying to cover up a small nosebleed he was having, not that Lloyd could see it anyways. "I'll just have you come down to my house and choose something for you out there. I'm sure there's something that I haven't worn that'll look very… nice… on you." Lloyd was still too embarrassed to say anything. "Anyways! I've got to get ready for school! I'll see you soon, Bud."

Lloyd was waiting to hear a click on Zelos's side of the phone before he hung up, but when nothing was heard, Lloyd looked down to his phone and said a quiet "bye". Zelos, who'd heard the dismissal, smiled to himself and returned the farewell and then hung up the phone.

The conversation done and over with, Lloyd sighed loudly, turning on his sink to splash his face with water. He needed the cold water to help cool off his heated face and pull him away from the awkward conversation he'd just had.

"Whew… That's a little more than I thought I'd be waking up to." His phone vibrated on the counter, alerting him that he had a text message. "Huh?"

*May as well ask you now that I can text you. You wanna just ask your dad if you want to stay the night? We're going to be out pretty late*

The text was from Zelos.

/Sure/

It wasn't long before Zelos responded to the short message.

*awesome! See you soon~ ;)*

/See ya Zelos/

"Gee, he seems to be taking embarrassing situations far better than I ever will…"

-At Zelos's house-

"I don't like him like that, I don't like him like that, I don't like him like that…" Zelos paused a moment. "…Towel… naked… skin… NO! I DON'T LIKE HIM LIKE THAT, I DON'T LIKE HIM LIKE THAT…" Zelos looked at his phone, smiling that he finally had Lloyd's number in its contacts. "It will be nice to call him every once in a while… Just to talk though… because we're friends… Just friends… And I don't like him like that…" He looked at his reflection in the mirror. "Don't give me that look like you don't believe me… You think you know everything just because you're as handsome as I am. WELL LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING MISTER! LLOYD IS MY FRIEND AND I WOULD NEVER IMAGINE HIM… Towel… naked… soft skin…"

And his nosebleed continued where it had left off.

-At school before classes started-

As Zelos had asked Lloyd to do on the phone, Lloyd was waiting at the bathrooms in front of the cafeteria. Lloyd had been standing by himself for a while, just watching other students walk by. Sheena had offered to wait with him, but he declined when he saw that a small group of her friends had waved over to her. He didn't want to keep her from them just because he had to talk with Zelos.

And now, it was only five minutes before the bells were going to ring to tell all the others that it would be time to get ready for class. Zelos hadn't shown up yet, which was making Lloyd grow a little impatient, so he pulled his phone out and sent a text message to the man who was supposed to be meeting up with him.

/Where you at?/

And Lloyd waited. However, it wasn't long before Lloyd got his answer, and it wasn't on his phone.

"Right here," Zelos said softly, grabbing Lloyd from behind and around the waist in a hug. "Sorry I took so long to get here. It took me a little longer than normal to get ready this morning." Zelos rest his head on Lloyd's shoulder and nuzzled his chin into Lloyd's neck. "So, what'd he say?"

The question came out a little close to Lloyd's right ear, and Lloyd could feel the redheads break coming off the question as he asked it. Lloyd bit down hard on his bottom lip to hold back the moan that was just about to slip out of his mouth. So instead of a widely audible moan, it remained in his throat, which unfortunately, was still audible to Zelos. Zelos felt the vibration of the noise in the boy's throat and he couldn't help but to smile at the other's reaction.

"_That was a pretty noise._" Zelos found himself snuggling closer to the smaller boy's body. "_He's so warm too…_"

"H-H-He said it was fine," Lloyd stammered. "I-I've just got to be home by dinner s-since my dad's friend is making something special…"

"Perfect!" Zelos grinned. "I figured we'd get you a nice swimsuit and get some fresh air out in the pool in my backyard for a little while and just chill out after we woke up tomorrow."

At long last, the bell to alert the students that class was about to start rang. This got Zelos to finally let go of Lloyd and give him a hearty pat on the back.

"I'll see you after school, right here okay?" Zelos asked.

"O-okay," Lloyd responded. "I'll see you then, Zelos."

So the two went their separate ways to get to their first class, not wanting to get in trouble for being tardy.

"_Yeah, he'd definitely handling anything embarrassing a hell of a whole lot better than I am,_" Lloyd thought miserably to himself, covering his face with one hand to hide his very obvious blush. "_The lucky bastard._"

"_Teaching him to dance is going to be so much fun,_" Zelos grinned to himself, very proud of what he had done. "_His reactions are so… wait… I can't think of him like that… He's not a girl, and I don't like him like that…_" Zelos looked downward. "_Fucking pants._" He pulled his bag from over his shoulder and pulled it out in front of him, pretending to flip through the contents inside. "_I should've got those pants on after we got home. Party pants in the light are not good for hiding erections… which I did not get from cute, little Lloyd. Nope. It was totally that chick that walked in front of us when I was hugging him… even if I didn't see her face. It was DEFINITELY her… And Lloyd being so warm was definitely not helping._"

-After school in the hallways-

"I can't believe how touchy-feely he is around you," Sheena said after meeting up with Lloyd once class had let out. "He's not even that touch with girls in public until he gets to know or like them beyond wanting to have a one night fling."

Lloyd nodded his head, not really paying attention to her. He'd sent her a few quick texts throughout the day to tell her about that morning since she'd sent him a message saying that she was curious. At first, she was a bit skeptical about the scene Lloyd had described to her, but when lunch came around, the way Zelos insisted on drooping himself all over the brunet had made all the doubts Sheena had shatter.

"You know, I'm sure you can tell him to stop," Sheena suggested. "I'm sure he'll stop if you say something. But, since you're going to a dance club, I'm positive that he won't bother you too much. There will be so many girls around that he'll probably forget that you're even there." Sheena then looked over to Lloyd with a look of warning. "Now Lloyd, you can dance with as many girls as you want, but have GOT to be CAREFUL. You are supposed to have a girlfriend, and Zelos is so stupid that if you start hitting or kissing a girl—" Lloyd snorted "—that he won't start to get suspicious or weary of you. If you get caught doing that, you're going to have a LOT of explaining to do, and I won't be able to help you out with that one since I'm not going to be there."

"I know, Sheena," Lloyd frowned. "I wasn't born yesterday, you know."

"I'm just warning you because I don't want you to get in any more deep shit that you have to think your way out of again." They were coming up to the bathrooms where Zelos wanted to meet up with Lloyd. "Well, I've got a date with Kandee and Asaria, so I'll have to leave you here. Please Lloyd, be careful, okay?"

Lloyd rolled his eyes. "Honestly, you worry too much. Zelos and I will be just fine."

For some reason, Sheena was having a hard time believing the words coming from his mouth. She'd have stayed just a bit longer to say something else, but she noticed a blur of red and figured it was time to get going. So she just sighed and waved to Lloyd, walking off in the opposite direction she'd saw Zelos coming from.

Almost as soon as Lloyd had lost sight of Sheena, he was greeted with Zelos's left arm looping through Lloyd's right and a poke on the cheek with Zelos's right index finger. Lloyd looked over to his friend and gave him a shy smile.

"You all ready to go Bud?" Zelos grinned, tugging at Lloyd to follow him. "My butler Sebastian is picking us up out front. I've told him all about you, and I'm pretty sure he's excited to meet you."

Lloyd's heart fluttered nervously after hearing those words. He'd completely forgotten about Sebastian. It was too late now though. At this point, all he could do was hope that Sheena was right about Sebastian not pressing matters unless he didn't think he should trust Lloyd. He wouldn't mind having the kind man pull him to the side and talk him to express his opinion. He was overly nervous that Sebastian would notice right away and possibly prejudge the situation and tell Zelos when Lloyd wasn't around.

Lloyd gulped uncomfortably as he let Zelos lead him off to find out what would happen. Zelos had been talking to him about how his day had gone and how he couldn't wait to go out with him, but Lloyd was too distracted with his own thoughts to really pay attention. He hoped Zelos wouldn't say anything too important.

Once outside, Zelos pointed to the car that Sebastian was in and happily dragged him by the arm over to the car. The front passenger side window rolled down and the two could see Sebastian, smiling his friendly smile.

"You must be Lloyd," Sebastian said, looking up to the by. "Zelos has told me quite a bit about you recently. Come, come, there's no need to stand out there. The doors are unlocked."

"Come on Lloyd," Zelos said.

The redhead had opened the door and got in first, pulling Lloyd in behind him to sit diagonally behind Sebastian. So far, so good, but the butler probably hadn't gotten a good look at him yet. Lloyd closed the door behind him and buckled his seatbelt. Once Sebastian was sure that Zelos had done the same, he started driving.

"This is a really nice car," Lloyd said in awe.

"It was a birthday present from someone on my dad's side of the family." Zelos looked out his window. "I can't ever remember who."

"I believe it was your father's sister," Sebastian spoke up from the front seat.

"I don't really care. I don't like driving it anyways," Zelos shrugged. "So, so, so! What do you think Sebastian?"

"It's as you said," the man smiled, looking briefly at Lloyd in the rearview mirror. "He looks surprisingly like Dolly, sir."

Lloyd looked down to his hands, a bit embarrassed at the comment. He heard a soft chuckled from the man in the front seat.

"So Lloyd, tell me about yourself," Sebastian said.

"Well, sir, uhm, there's really not much to tell," Lloyd replied. "I live with my dad, like I have been for my whole life. I don't really have many friends other than Sheena and a few of her friends. Uhm, I stay at home most of the time really. I'm actually really excited about tonight since I haven't done anything in a while." A small smile slipped on to both his face and Zelos's, but Lloyd didn't notice. "I do like to sword fight and wrestle a bit, though I haven't done either in a while."

"I didn't know that! We'll have to spar sometime!" Lloyd looked over to Zelos in shock. "I have my own collection of swords back at home. I haven't had anyone to practice with for a few years, but I do know a thing or two about sword fighting."

A laugh was heard from the front seat when Zelos finished. "Do go on Lloyd."

"Ah, well, I don't think there's too much else to tell, sir," Lloyd blushed. "I'm a pretty boring person really…"

That comment made Zelos frown in high disapproval at Lloyd. Zelos then reached over to him and pushed him lightly against his shoulder.

"It appears Master Zelos begs to differ," Sebastian said, still laughing his quiet laugh. "I'm sure you'll open up a little more the more you hang out, sir. It has been quite a while since we've had anyone over of course. You'll have to excuse us if something isn't to your liking."

"Oh, no, that's fine. I'm just coming over to have fun," Lloyd said, shoving back at Zelos. "I don't need anything specially done for me."

All of the sudden, Zelos ducked over to Lloyd and took in a sharp whiff of air.

"Are you wearing one of the colognes that Dolly got for you?" Zelos grinned.

"Y-yeah, I am."

"You wear it well," Zelos smiled. "I usually stick to the 'Chosen' scent… I think I gave your girlfriend a vial of that to take to you." Lloyd nodded in response. "That's my favorite. You'll have to wear it sometime. Who knows, you may wear it better."

The boys continued on for a while as Sebastian made a few more unnoticed glances back at Lloyd. He'd already caught on that Lloyd was the exact same person as Dolly, but he kept his thoughts to himself. He could tell as Lloyd spoke more and more that he was a genuinely good person. No doubt, when he got the chance, he would speak to Lloyd or Dolly in private and express his thoughts without revealing anything of what Zelos thought, but he would keep to himself about anything they'd discuss. The fact that Zelos was so determined to be friends with him was more than enough to keep Sebastian from interfering. Zelos hadn't had an actual friend in quite some time, and Lloyd appeared to be the perfect one to fill that spot.

Another thing the man had picked up from Lloyd's small mannerisms was that he may have been a little interested in Zelos. It wasn't from how he was acting in the car though. Sebastian had caught on during the flirtatious encounters he'd go through with Zelos when he was dressed up as Dolly. Sebastian laughed to himself quietly.

At least when either of them decided to come to terms with how they felt, it wouldn't be too terribly long before the other would give in too. Sebastian had no problem with how Zelos lived his life, so long as the boy was happy, he was happy too, even if it meant he would eventually pair up with Lloyd.

"We're home," Sebastian announced, pulling up through the large driveway.

Almost immediately upon arrival, Zelos unbuckled both his and Lloyd's seatbelt and dragged Lloyd out of the car. Lloyd tried to make a grab at his belongings, but it was to no avail. Sebastian smiled and got out of the car and went to grab both Zelos's and Lloyd's bags to bring them inside.

"Okay, the reason it took me so long this morning to get ready," Zelos started as he pulled Lloyd up the stairs, "was because I was getting an outfit together for you to wear. By the way, if you want to keep it, you can. I don't think I've ever worn it."

"Bu-but Zelos!"

"No buts, Bud. If it looks as good as I think it's going to look on you, I'm not going to want it back from you." Zelos opened the door to his room and motioned for Lloyd to sit on the bed to wait for him to grab the clothes out of the closet. "Wait right there. What size shoe do you wear by the way?"

"Nine," Lloyd replied. "Zelos, I can wear what I've got on."

"I can't hear you!" Zelos announced as he disappeared into his closet. "It's a good thing we've got the same shoe size. I'd have hated for you to have such a nice outfit and wear some old shoes you wear everyday with it."

Zelos went on a little while as Lloyd sat on the bed. He noticed it had a bit of a spring to it but had somehow managed to remain very comfortable. His hands glided over the silk bedding, becoming slightly jealous. Known to no one else but him, Lloyd had a teensy bit of a silk fetish. At once point, he'd tried to convince his dad to get him a silk bed set, but as soon as Kratos had seen the price, Lloyd's wishes were immediately denied.

As Zelos came out of the closet [hee hee...], Lloyd had sprawled himself onto the silk covers and had just about melted into them. A sly grin slid onto Zelos's face as he walked over to the younger.

"You like it?" Zelos asked, leaning on a bedpost and looking down at Lloyd, who'd had the most blissful look on his face that Zelos had ever seen.

"S-sorry!" Lloyd blushed, immediately sitting up. "But y-yeah, I do like them. I'll have to invest in them some time…"

"Heh. Until then though, I've got everything ready for you." Zelos pulled Lloyd off the bed and nodded him off to the closet. "There's more than enough room for you to change in there. It's rather nice having such a large walk in closet."

Lloyd gave the bed he'd just been pulled up from a longing look, but he walked off to the closet to see what Zelos had in store for him anyways. As he walked in, Zelos closed the door behind him, and what Lloyd saw waiting at the end of the closet made his jaw drop. That had to be the most impressive outfit he'd ever seen that he'd be getting to wear.

The top was a dark red, button up, short sleeved shirt that looked like it would fit a little tighter than most of Lloyd's current shirts. By the looks of it, Sebastian had probably ironed it to perfection. There was a small chest pocket on the left side of the shirt that had a small black lion emblem. As Lloyd took it off the hanger, he noticed that the same emblem with a little more design with it, was on the back of the shirt, but much, much larger.

After he'd replaced the top he was wearing with the top given to him, he saw a black tie where the shirt had been. He'd have to get either Zelos or Sebastian to help him get it on just right. Then came the pants, which were a very nice pair of black skinnies. There was a black and red striped patch sewed on the knee, which accented the shirt perfectly. Once he'd gotten them on, he'd found they were a perfect fit for him. Never had he owned a pair of skinny jeans, but once he'd put them on, he figured he was going to have to change that in the future. It may have been that he shaved his legs that the jeans gave him such a comfortable feeling, but he had to admit, he liked how they looked on him.

Lloyd then found a pair of tightly fit, black leather gloves hanging up with a pair of red socks and a black and red studded belt. He quickly replaced the gloves he'd been wearing with the gloves Zelos had supplied to him as well as his belt. As he fumbled around with putting the socks on, which proved to be difficult while wearing his skinnies, he came across the shoes that were lying on the ground in front of him. From what he could tell, they were a very expensive brand of shoe [that looks very similar to a converse btw]. For the most part, the shoes were black, except for the laces and the rubber parts, which were red.

"Wow, he really went all out didn't he," Lloyd smiled. He then looked around the rest of the closet. "Not that it would've been too hard not to. Everything in here looks expensive…"

Finally done with putting his clothes on, he stood up and looked at himself in a mirror that had been placed in the closet. He couldn't help but to stare at the image in the mirror for a while.

"Damn. I look good."

Once he'd pulled himself away from the mirror, Lloyd walked out the door. As soon as he did that though, he felt a hat being forced onto his head. Zelos grinned down at him as he took a few steps back to take a look at Lloyd.

The redhead found himself at a loss for words. The clothes he'd chosen out for Lloyd fit his body so perfectly, he couldn't help but to stare. Of course, after a while of nothing being said, Lloyd's cheeks flared up a bit as he stuttered a few words out to break the awkward silence.

"W-well, what do you think?"

"_Absolutely, fucking hot_" is what Zelos yearned to say, but all he could get out was, "Pretty, fucking awesome if I do say so myself!"

"Heh, thank you so much Zelos!" Lloyd smiled. "I'd be lying if I thought said anything different." He looked up to Zelos and laughed while nudging him in the arm. "I've got to see the hat you gave me!" Zelos pointed in the direction of the bathroom and Lloyd was quick to follow. "Whoa! This is sweet!"

While Lloyd went on for a while about the whole outfit and how it looked, Zelos found himself staring at the happy brunet. It wasn't his usual 'oh-la-la' kind of stare he'd make at a girl that had decent curves or a large chest. It was more of a gentle, admiring stare with a small smile tugging at his lips. He got a good look at the boy's body, and he had to admit that he had an adorable build.

"_Maybe… I do feel a little something for this guy…_," Zelos thought. "_…No… That can't be possible…_" The longer Zelos stared though… "_He… does have very nice features though._"

-A few hours of goofing off and getting ready later-

"We'll see you in a few hours Sebastian!" Zelos said, announcing that he and Lloyd were leaving. "So, we're just going to walk there since it's pretty much just right down the street."

The night air brought a sense of excitement to Lloyd as the two walked down the street together. It had been a while since Lloyd had actually taken a night walk. The breeze was a little chilly, but he liked how it tickled his face with his hair that the hat he was wearing didn't cover. He loved how the stars sparkled brightly in the sky with no clouds to cover them up. The random rustling of the trees as the wind blew past them was music to his ears.

Then he looked at Zelos who was talking about something that they had to try together at some point. He made a shy smile at the redhead who had just appeared to be happy that Lloyd was with him.

"We're almost there! Come on, Bud! It looks like the dancing has started a little early tonight!" Zelos laughed, now dragging Lloyd behind him by the hand. "Hurry up!"

As they entered the club, Lloyd's jaw dropped at the amount of people that he saw dancing in the middle of the club. He'd never seen so many people in one spot, other than at school of course. He found it to be a little intimidating. Luckily, Zelos wasn't pulling him to the huge crowd of people. Instead he was being dragged to what appeared to be a bar with a kind looking bartender serving drinks.

The bartender looked up, and as soon as he saw Zelos, he gave a warm, welcoming smile.

"Ah, it's been a while, Zelos," the fairly young man said. "I see you've actually brought someone with you. "Quite a handsome fellow." Lloyd received a friendly wink, which made him blush some. "Well, take a seat. Is there anything you fellas would like?"

"I'll take the usual, Davo," Zelos said in response. "What about you Lloyd?"

"You like strawberries, Lloyd?" Davo asked. Lloyd nodded. "How about a virgin strawberry daiquiri? I'm pretty sure you're too young to be drinking anything too dirty."

And without Lloyd being able to give his reply, Davo was off taking another order and making drinks. Lloyd wasn't too sure he'd wanted that drink, but strawberries did sound pretty tempting.

"So, what do you think, Bud? It's a pretty cool place, huh?" Zelos asked, talking a bit loudly so Lloyd could hear him over the loud bass the music being played was giving off. Lloyd nodded without a word. "You doing okay, Bud? It's not too much is it?"

"It's just fine," Lloyd smiled.

The two sat and talked to each other for a little while before they received their drinks. Zelos had a rather colorful drink with a little umbrella on it. To Lloyd, it looked rather tasty. But as soon as his was placed in front of him with a little plate of strawberries at the side, Lloyd couldn't help but to drool some.

"It's on the house, cutie," Davo winked.

"Hey, me too?" Zelos asked.

"No. Yours is still six bucks." Davo smirked as Zelos let out a disappointed sigh, but drank his drink anyways. "Do enjoy!"

Before Lloyd could start at his drink though, a girl walked up to Zelos and gave him a little wink. He waved, but didn't get up from his seat quite yet. He turned to Lloyd.

"You don't mind if I go amuse her, do you?" Zelos asked. Sipping his drink through a straw, he shook his head 'no'. "I won't be too long. Don't get too distracted, you hear?"

And with that, Zelos hopped off his barstool, bringing his fancy drink with him. Lloyd casually sat in his seat and watched as the redhead danced. The brunet smirked to himself as Zelos danced with the girl who'd walked past him and would casually take a drink from his glass.

Before they had left the house, Zelos had attempted to try and teach Lloyd how to dance some, but it was easier said than done. Without much of a beat to go to, Zelos and Lloyd were left with a few goofy moves and a laughing fit at their silly stumbles. But as Lloyd watched him, he found Zelos to be rather good, even if it looked like he wasn't giving much of an effort.

It wasn't too long before the first girl walked past Lloyd and gave a suggestive little smirk. Lloyd simply smiled and waved her off as politely as he could. After a few more minutes, two more girls walked by and giggled amongst each other and waved to him. He simply waved back, intent on staying in his seat until Zelos returned.

However, it seemed that Sheena had been right. Zelos had become fairly distracted with all the suggestive winks and hand motions that it appeared he wasn't going to be back for a while. Lloyd didn't mind though.

Suddenly, a man a few years older than him sat down in the seat next to him where Zelos was supposed to be sitting. Lloyd looked up to him to get a quick glimpse. He was a young man, no older than mid-twenties and had to stand somewhere around six foot. He had medium length dark orange hair that was thinned out towards the bottom. His eyes were a piercing yellow that Lloyd hadn't seen very often before. He had a fairly muscular body, but not so much that he looked like he went to the gym every day. All in all, he was a very handsome man.

"I noticed you've just been sitting over here," he said calmly, giving Lloyd a smile he was unfamiliar with. "The name's Phoenix."

Phoenix stuck his hand out to shake Lloyd's hand. Lloyd kindly returned the action.

"Lloyd," Lloyd said as a means to introduce himself.

"Nice to meet you, Lloyd."

"Likewise."

"I see you're getting low on your drink…," Phoenix smiled. "Hey Davo, how about we get Lloyd another drink on me."

"Virgin strawberry daiquiri coming right up, Fen! You want anything?"

"I'll take a beer." Phoenix turned back to Lloyd. "I don't think I've ever seen you around here before. You don't come here often I take it."

"No," Lloyd replied. "It's actually my first time here to be honest."

"Oh! Fun! A friend invited you I'm assuming?" Phoenix asked. "Where is she?"

"No, no, my friend Zelos brought me here," Lloyd said. "He's off somewhere dancing right now."

"I see, I see." Davo brought the two their drinks. "Thanks Davo. Hmmm, Zelos. I do believe I've heard that name around here and there. Could you point him out to me?" Lloyd squinted his eyes to peer into the crowd. When he came across a head of red, he pointed. "Him? Really? I don't think I've ever seen HIM bring anyone else here before."

Lloyd shrugged and took a drink of the newly filled cup. He loved the strawberry taste to the slushie-like drink. When he turned back to Phoenix, he found a strawberry from the plate Davo had given him earlier being pressed against his lips. His eyes widening and cheeks becoming as red as his drink, he shyly opened his mouth to accept the small red treat. Phoenix smiled at the cute reaction and picked up another strawberry to feed to the boy, who allowed him to give him the fruit. This time, Phoenix dared to push his finger to Lloyd's lips and then brush the finger across them.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. You hadn't touched your strawberries. It would've been a shame if they'd gone to waste." The orange haired man smiled that smile again and he leaned his elbow on the counter to rest his head on his hand. The look in his eyes seemed almost wild. "I hope you didn't mind too much."

Lloyd shook his head back and forth, but as he did that, he felt a slight headache coming on. Thinking it was just the heat or the music getting to him, he took another drink from the slushie. This only made Phoenix's smile widen.

"I think you've sat down long enough," the man said, getting up from his seat. "It's time for you to dance little one."

And with that, Phoenix grabbed Lloyd's drink and lured him out to the dance floor. They shoved past a few people that appeared to be too lost in their own dancing to really care, and made their way to a corner of the club. Lloyd had felt a slight dizziness come over him, so he made a grab for his drink, but Phoenix only wagged his finger at him. He then tilted Lloyd's head up and put the straw to his lips to get another drink.

Lloyd could feel his cheeks getting redder by the moment, but before he knew it, he had his back to the much larger man who had his free hand wrapped around the boy's waist. He was being lead into a dance, much like most of the other girls were on the floor. He didn't know what came over him, but he felt his body moving and swaying in sync with the man standing behind him. Everything, the lights, the people, the bar, it was all swirling together into a blur of moving blobs to the boy.

"You want another sip, Lloyd?" the taller man's voice asked huskily into his ear. Lloyd nodded, hoping it would help to relieve him of the slightly sick feeling that had suddenly come over him. "Look up then, little one…"

Obediently, Lloyd cast his gaze up to the man behind him. It appeared he had Lloyd's straw in his mouth and was suggesting that Lloyd put the other end in his by tapping the boy's mouth with it. Without so much as a second thought, Lloyd put his mouth to the straw and suddenly tasted the daiquiri fall from it into his mouth. The flavor had a small tangy taste to it, but the thought was fleeting as Phoenix then brought the whole glass to the boy's lips and urged him to finish it.

Finish it he did, and as the glass emptied, Phoenix set it down on a nearby table and grabbed Lloyd on both hips and suggested him to keep dancing.

"_Everything's so… blurry,_" Lloyd thought in a daze. "_What… what's going on? It's so… hot…_"

He then felt a cold hand grab one of his and another start snaking up the front of his shirt. He tried to make a grab at the hand, but he was just forced into some more dancing. His hat had fallen off at some point and he could now feel the man behind him whispering inaudible words into his ears, making the boy groan at the tickling sensation. A few kisses were planted here and there on Lloyds head, neck and shoulders as they danced on.

"_I… I don't know… what I'm doing,_" Lloyd thought again. "_Why… am I dancing?_"

The grinding from the other man behind him started to intensify, but Lloyd felt he couldn't do anything to stop it from happening. Soon enough, he was twirled around to face Phoenix, who was standing above him with a hungry look in his eyes. His face closed in on Lloyd's to the point that their noses were touching. Lloyd could feel one of the hands urging him to dance slide across and down his back to make a tight grab at his butt. This got another moan from the younger boy.

"Such a lovely creature you are," Phoenix grinned. He leaned past Lloyd's face slowly and made a bite at Lloyd's ear. Lloyd's body was so far out of his control that the moans that escaped his mouth were much louder than he'd done before. "You're quite delicious… I think I should have a better taste."

Lloyd felt the cold hands that had been exploring him earlier make a grab at each cheek and turn his face directly at Phoenix. Lloyd's heart skipped a beat as the man's piercing eyes looked straight down into his brown ones. Phoenix nuzzled their noses together a bit, teasing at Lloyd's lips with his own.

Suddenly, Lloyd felt someone come up behind him in the same dancing motion as Phoenix. This time, warm hands enveloped Lloyd back into the body behind him, pulling him away from the orangette. The look on Phoenix's face hardened as he looked past Lloyd to the person standing behind him.

"I'm sorry, Fen. But this one's mine." It was Zelos's voice. "Come on, Bud, let's get dancing somewhere else."

"Z… Zelosss…" Lloyd had barely managed to make his name out as he felt the man behind him pull him away from where he was.

Phoenix watched in pure anger as Zelos took the dazed boy away from where he'd been. Lloyd couldn't even feel his legs moving as Zelos turned him to face the other. A deeply concerned look was on Zelos's face as he nudged Lloyd to look up at him.

"Bud?" Zelos asked.

But Lloyd didn't answer. Instead, he made a grab at Zelos's shirt and pulled him down so their noses touched. Zelos's eyes widened as a faint cherry color came to his face. He then wrapped his arms around Lloyd's backside and they continued dancing on with the bass. Not once did Zelos pull away from Lloyd's face. In fact, he had started to rub their noses together, feeling a heated passion come up between them.

"_What's come over him? Did Phoenix drug his drink or something?_" Zelos thought, half panicking, half enjoying himself. "_This doesn't seem right._"

Before much else could be thought though, Lloyd pushed himself up a bit more and connected to Zelos with a kiss. Zelos couldn't lie, this had caught him off guard, but he couldn't let the moment slip away too quickly. So, he nuzzled at Lloyd's lips with his own, hinting he wanted to be allowed entrance. Almost immediately, Lloyd parted his lips and Zelos grabbed a handful of Lloyd's hair and pulled his head up to slip his tongue onto Lloyd's.

A muffled moan was heard from Lloyd as Zelos deepened the kiss, and his grip on Zelos's shirt had tightened. Zelos could feel his pants tightening, much like they had after he'd gotten a moan out of Lloyd earlier in the day. The grip on Lloyd's hair was squeezed a bit more, resulting in Lloyd turning his neck upwards. Zelos took advantage of the skin given to him and kissed down the boy's neck and down to an open button on Lloyd's shirt.

It wasn't too long before Zelos returned to the strawberry flavored kiss. But as it continued, the more Zelos started to worry.

"_Something is definitely wrong,_" he thought.

Zelos then pulled away to grab Lloyd's face and look down at him in question. He could clearly see Lloyd's eyes had close to no emotion in them, which sent a red flag in Zelos's mind instantly. Zelos pulled his friend over to the bar again and reclaimed their seats they'd sat in upon entering the club.

"Lloyd, are you okay?" Zelos asked.

"M'hot…," Lloyd managed to get out.

"Okay, let's get outside then…"

Zelos left a twenty on the counter as he pulled Lloyd out of the club to get some fresh air. Upon coming outside, Lloyd immediately fell to the ground unconscious.

"Well, shit. I'd better get Sebastian over here to pick us up." Zelos pulled out his phone and sat on the ground next to Lloyd, gently brushing his hair out of his face. He pulled the smaller boy up onto his lap. It'd only been two hours and the poor thing was already subject to some sort of roofies. "He Seb, we kinda need you to pick us up. Yeah. Lloyd's knocked out. No, no one hurt him from what I know. Yeah. Yeah… M'kay, I'll see you in five." He looked down to the now sleeping brunet. "Wow… You have got to be the best kisser I've ever known…" He rubbed Lloyd's cheeks softly. "Okay… maybe… I do like you like that. But just a little bit."

-End of Chaptero Seiso!-

BanANNU :: YAY! I FINISHED A CHAPTER IN LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER POSTING THE PREVIOUS ONE!

Jazzimonster :: See what you can do when you sit down and do it?

BanANNU :: e w e hee hee… Well, I kinda wanted to write this chapter until I finished it. I have to admit though, I am a little sad I didn't get any reviews before I finished… not that I have many people reading this anyways xD

Jazzimonster :: You do… they're just to weird to post anything. Plus I talk to you like everyday. You already know what I think before you even post it to the site.

BanANNU :: e v e hurr hurr… Well, I'm going to cut this out a little short today so I can get some sleep. ^^ I've kinda been up all night writing this for you guys :'D Nannu needs her rest ~  
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I loved writing it… Told you it'd be sexier ;D

DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! I love reviews :'D Review responses are posted in upcoming chapters! If you want a response from meh, you gotta write what you think, or what you want to see next :D Plus I feel oh so lonely and sad when people don't review and just read. Anyways! x3 Good night my lovelies~

PS :: I'm going to update every Saturday I couldn't wait to post this... so it's a little bit earlier... Close enough, right?


	7. Chaptero sieteo

Title :: The New Job

Written by :: BanANNU

Edited and proofread by :: Jazzimonster … after posting… Yeah, I posted it a little late *bows* Do expect a few edits here and there after today. ^^;

Rated :: M for later chapters. Be on the look out for a chapter that has a link in it ;D your smut shall be there!

-Review Responses to my lovely reviewers- -Review to see your response in the next chapter!

ShikonNoTsuki :: Thank you so much for reviewing~! It means the world to me (believe it or not). And I can't say I'm the best. There are so many good Zelloyd fics that just haven't been finished yet… but I thank you nonetheless for thinking so :'D

Amikaze :: I'm quite proud of myself for the recent updates :D Moving states really effected my writing this story, but now that I'm officially settled down, constant updates will be made :D YAY! Hurr, hurr, I did quite enjoy the drugged up Lloyd. e u e he was rather… interesting to say the least. Thank you so much for checking back up on this story! It has missed you!

Aittla :: TT u TT I can't apologize enough on how sorry I am that it took me so long to update. But I am updating! That is the important thing! I'm so happy that you're liking all the new chapters. I've been trying so hard to be able to write like I used to, which is hard since I haven't really written in a while, but it's so worth it to get your review~ I do hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

Disclaimer ::

Kratos :: I'm afraid the author of this story cannot be here today.

Jazzimonster :: Uh, why?

Kratos :: Various reasons. Anyways, I'd like to say that this story will not continue while I am here.

Jazzimonster :: UH, WHY?

Kratos :: Because I said so.

Jazzimonster :: I may adore you Kratos, but I am not above severely maiming you to make sure this story goes on.

Kratos :: I would blame that lovely reviewer that reported what happened to Lloyd during the last chapter. Thank you very much~

Jazzimonster :: =_= # -pullz out a gun- THIS STORY… WILL… CONTINUE.

Kratos :: O n O;

Jazzimonster :: banANNU does not own the characters in this story. The only ones she does own are Asaria and Kandee.

Kratos :: I hate you… so much…

-loud banging noise-

Jazzimonster :: What was that noise?

Kratos :: NOTHING.

Jazzimonster :: No, I'm pretty sure I heard something from the closet…

Kratos :: No. You heard NOTHING.

Jazzimonster :: -openz closet- -banANNU fallz out-

banANNU :: Thank you Jazz… Enjoy the fic…

Kratos :: Perverts…

Yuan :: -enterz- KRACHAN~! –tackle hugz-

banANNU :: -perkz up- Oh~ Motivation~

Kratos :: NOOOOOOOO!

VARNING :: There isn't too terribly much in this chapter. For the most part, it's meant to be cute :3 Yes. Cuteness. BEWARE THE CUTENESS~ … kind of. There are some serious parts, but anyways… There is crude humor, and swearing, as usual. :3 Be patient. Believe it or not, smexiness is coming soon. :3 I've already got some of it written down… heh heh heh… hopefully Kratos won't hurt me too bad.

-ENJOY-

Chaptero SieteO!

Zelos had laid Lloyd onto his bed after Sebastian had brought them home from the dance club. Sebastian had asked about what had happened to lead to having to pick the up early. After actually thinking about it, Zelos couldn't really come up with a halfway decent answer.

From what he could remember, he'd gone off to dance with a few girls, occasionally glancing back at Lloyd. At one point, he'd seen Phoenix sit down in his spot. He'd known Phoenix to not really care what gender he would hit on and that he was usually pretty determined to not take a no for anything. But he'd never think that the man would use a drug on a minor to get his way. A while after a dance with a few random girls he'd had no particular interest in, he looked back over to the bar and found that both Lloyd and Phoenix were gone. He apologized to the girls he was dancing with and left to ask Davo where Lloyd had gone off to. Unfortunately, Davo had been distracted with a few other customers. Zelos then went off to go and look for Lloyd. Eventually, he found his hat on the ground and asked a few dancers nearby to see if they'd seen the person who'd been wearing the hat. Half of them were too distracted to even respond to him. That was when he saw a flash of orange a few people away from him.

What he saw caused an angry feeling to bubble up inside him. There Phoenix was, dancing with the boy he'd brought over, putting his hands anywhere he could get them. He could see Lloyd had a dazed look on his face as if he wasn't really all there. Zelos had started to make his way over to them and saw the orange haired man planting kisses on his Lloyd and making a grab at his ass. He'd almost gotten over to the two but had been cut off by a few girls that wanted him to dance. He quickly declined and pushed passed them. And then he saw it.

Phoenix had pulled Lloyd's face up looked like he was about to plant a kiss on his lips. Zelos felt his anger flare up and he made a straight path and walked over behind Lloyd and managed to pull him away. Something about the thought of Phoenix kissing him had Zelos very upset.

As soon as he'd gotten Lloyd away from the older man confirmed to him that something was wrong. Lloyd was almost always full of emotion, and once he'd gotten a good look at his eyes, he knew that something had happened.

However, the thoughts had seemingly disappeared from his mind after that kiss he shared with the boy. He had never had such a passionate kiss from any girl he'd ever temporarily paired up. Despite Lloyd having been drugged and not being able to control most of what he did, it seemed that he put his full effort into the momentary saliva swap.

And now Zelos was sitting at the side of the bed, waiting for Zelos to wake up. It had been three hours since they'd gotten home and all Lloyd had done was turn over on his side, facing Zelos. It took a full hour for the red hue to disappear from his cheeks and another half an hour before his temperature went back down to normal. Now, the brunet was sleeping peacefully.

"_I hope he'll be okay,_" Zelos thought to himself, reaching out to caress the boy's cheeks.

When his fingers connected to the sleeping boy's face, Lloyd mumbled about being hungry and nuzzled into the hand. This made Zelos pull his hand back in fear that Lloyd was waking up. That wasn't the case though. Lloyd was simply doing some minor sleep talking during his dreaming. Zelos chuckled at the boy and then placed his hand on top of Lloyd's hand that the boy wasn't laying on.

"_It's only a little crush. Just a little one,_" Zelos told himself as he rubbed the smaller hand. "_I'm just worried is all… And he looks so cute while he sleeps. That's it._"

After an hour and a half of waiting, and Sebastian getting an energy drink for Zelos, the brunet started to stir. His eyes fluttered open and soon locked onto Zelos. He then quickly sat up in the bed, trying to remember how he'd gotten into Zelos's bed. It wasn't long before he flopped back over with a feeling of head rush.

"Careful, careful, Bud. You've been out for a little while," Zelos warned the boy. "You need some more bed rest."

"Zelos, wh-what happened? Why am I in bed? Weren't we at that club? Wasn't I…" Lloyd paused. "Oh Goddess…" His cheeks flared up. "I was… I was dancing with someone… some… guy…"

"Do you… remember everything?" Zelos asked, a little nervous.

"Not really… Everything's a blur for the most part… Was… was there a guy other than you with me?" Zelos nodded. "I, uh, was I per chance, dancing with him?" Zelos waited a moment before nodding again. "Ugh, I can't remember anything else. Do you know what happened?"

"Well, let's see… I'm pretty sure that the guy you were with was named Phoenix," Zelos started. "Uhm, are you sure you want to hear everything?" Lloyd gave a quick nod, grabbing one of Zelos's pillows and hugging it to his chest for comfort. "If you're sure… I'm pretty sure that he drugged your drink." Lloyd's eyes widened. "He didn't really do too much to you, but—"

"Oh Goddess, I kissed someone!"

"W-w-wait, let me—"

"He kissed me didn't he?" Zelos stopped his sentence, which only made Lloyd think that Phoenix had kissed him. "I know I kissed someone. I remember that. I remember it almost… vividly…"

Zelos's cheeks reddened a little bit, but it went unnoticed by the brunet who went on about how he was upset about the whole incident. The redhead had certainly remembered the kiss and had been thinking about it on and off since he'd brought Lloyd back home. From what he'd remember, it was a nice, passionate, and not to mention, a very sexy kiss. The kiss was probably the most wonderful kiss that he could ever remember having. None of the other girls could ever compare.

"I can't believe I got drugged and let myself… give away my first kiss…," Lloyd sighed. "To a douchebag of a person."

"Say what?" Zelos asked, thinking he hadn't heard the boy right.

"My first kiss. I haven't ever kissed someone." Lloyd's eyes widened, putting his hands to his mouth. "Oh my Goddess, don't tell anyone that I haven't kissed anyone! I told people that I had kissed a friend of mine to tell people that had asked who my first kiss had been."

A small smirk slid onto Zelos's face as it dawned on him that he'd taken the boy's first. He'd never really been big for firsts, seeing as his own first on most anything was fairly plain, but for some reason this one stuck. It brought butterflies up into chest and almost made him giggle, but he held it back to try and not signal to Lloyd that the story he was thinking was a little different. He figured it be better to keep it to himself unless something happened between them in the future.

"I'm sorry about that Lloyd. I'll keep it secret though," Zelos winked, placing an index finger to his lips. "You can trust me with anything. But anyways, since you're up, you do need to get some sleep. We're just going to hang out here tomorrow. I figured that you could wear one of my swimsuits for my pool out back. I'm pretty sure they'll fit you just fine."

"How big is the pool?" Lloyd asked, dismissing Zelos telling him that he needed to get some sleep.

"You'll see it tomorrow," Zelos said, grinning. "Come on, Bud, you need to get some sleep. You're more than welcome to sleep in this bed. I'm gonna go sleep in the guest bedroom."

"Wh-what? You don't need to do that!" Lloyd sat up rather fast again, and somehow managed to get himself off of the bed. "I'm not going to take—" Lloyd fell straight to the ground after one step "—you're… bed… ouch."

The redhead chuckled a bit and picked Lloyd up around the waist from off the ground and threw him back on the bed. A small 'oomph' was heard from Lloyd, which only made Zelos smile more as he pulled the silk comforter over the smaller boy. Zelos reached over and ruffled the soft brunet hair he'd wanted to touch again. He had loved the feel of Lloyd's hair between his fingers when they had shared their kiss at the club. Thinking about it again had Zelos craving it more and more. The sweet taste of the strawberries in the younger's mouth. The warmth that came off his tongue when Zelos had managed to get a good taste of Lloyd's mouth. The smell of strawberries on is breath… and especially the moans that came from the boy's throat. Zelos had loved those little noises more than any of the fake noises he'd heard from any girl.

"Zelos?" Lloyd asked quietly.

"Hm?" he replied, snapping away from his thoughts only momentarily.

"Could you promise not to tell anyone about this? I… I don't want my dad or Sheena to find out about any of it…"

Zelos tilted his head and smiled softly. "No problem, Bud. The only other person who knows is Sebastian, and he's sworn to secrecy unless I say so."

A look of relief swept over Lloyd as Zelos reassured him. He sunk back into the bed and laid his head back on the black, silk pillow pile. He could feel himself melting into the bed. The feeling of the silk made the boy smile happily.

"Do you have any pajamas I could wear? I feel kinda weird going to sleep in these kind of clothes," Lloyd asked shyly.

"Yeah, just take your pick of whatever you wanna wear in that dresser over there," Zelos said, pointing over in the direction of the dresser. Lloyd looked to be a little embarrassed about something. "Do you need me to get them?" The brunet nodded. "M'kay. How does a tank top and some silk pajama pants sound?"

Nodding at the word "silk", Zelos couldn't help but to laugh as he went over to the dresser to pull out a black tank top and a pair of black pants. Lloyd made grabbing motions at the clothing and Zelos handed them over without a second thought.

"Well, I'll leave you to change and get some good sleep," Zelos said, starting to walk away from the bedside.

Suddenly, Lloyd made a grab at Zelos's hand. The redhead could see a small blush on the boy's face, and he couldn't hide the smile that slid onto his face.

"You okay, Bud?"

"I… uhm…" Lloyd then let go of the hand, feeling a bit embarrassed for having done so in the first place. "N-nevermind."

"Are you sure?" Lloyd quickly nodded his head. "If you say so. Sleep good, Bud."

That said and done, Zelos turned on a lamp that sat next to his bed, walked to the door, and then turned off the light. A small 'goodnight' was heard from Lloyd, and he returned the gesture as he closed the door behind him. He then rest his back against the door, turned his head upwards, closed his eyes and smiled happily.

"_Oh, he's so adorable_," Zelos thought to himself. "_Geez, him and his girlfriend… How can the both of them be so wonderfully cute?_"

"Is Lloyd doing okay, Master Zelos?" Sebastian asked, coming up from downstairs. "I haven't seen you get so worried since you were quite little."

"Yeah. I convinced him to get some sleep after he woke up. He's still a bit uncoordinated. He actually tried to get up to go to the guest bedroom, but he fell right over." Zelos let out a small giggle, remembering the flustered brunet. "He's so… innocent."

Sebastian laughed some, catching on to the hint of admiration in his master's voice. The thought that Zelos liked Lloyd more as himself instead of Dolly flew through his mind, but he shut it out, trying not to think so boldly.

"Well, since you know that he's doing all right, I suggest that you get some sleep as well sir," Sebastian said. "You look like you need a few hours of sleep as well."

"I will, I will." Zelos pulled himself up off the door and stared down the hallway to the guest bedroom that was right next to his own room. "Hey, Sebastian?"

"Yes sir?"

"I think… I think I may… him… think I possibly," Zelos stammered, a little embarrassed to what he was trying to confess to.

"I understand, sir," Sebastian chuckled.

"Oh, and Lloyd kind of want to keep tonight a secret. He doesn't want his dad or Sheena finding out about it," Zelos said, trying to get past his unfinished confession.

"That's fine, sir. I'm sure you already know that I wouldn't breathe a word without your consent anyways," Sebastian said. "But I assume he told you to ask anyways." Zelos nodded. "Well, you don't have anything to worry about, I assure you. I do, however, urge you to go get some sleep, sir."

Zelos nodded in agreement and went off to the guest room, closing the door quietly behind him. The boy smiled to himself as he jumped into the king sized guest bed. He made himself comfy under the blankets.

"Well, here's to hoping tomorrow will go just a little better. I'll just have to be sure that if I ever take him out again to keep a better eye on him… not that I'll really mind to. He can be quite the cutie. I certainly wouldn't want to miss out on anything worth while."

Zelos started to drift off, the kiss he'd shared with Lloyd running through his head a few more times. He grinned to himself, playing out a scenario or two on how Lloyd would react if he ever told the boy what had TRULY transpired that night. And after a few more thoughts, he finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.

%%%%%%%%%%

"Oh, Dolly," Zelos groaned. "You're so beautiful."

The redhead planted a few kisses on the maid's lips, resulting in a few breathy moans and giggles. Lloyd had never felt this way before, despite that he was mentally telling himself that something about the entire situation was wrong. However, the way Zelos was caressing him so softly he couldn't help but to melt into the touch. Not to mention that their lips seemed to fit together so nicely.

"I can't believe we're doing this behind Lloyd's back… I can't help but feel bad about it," Zelos whispered, then taking a nibble at the other's ear.

"But Zelos," Lloyd started.

However, the maid was cut off when the door flew open to show Kratos had entered. Lloyd 'eeped' and quickly hid himself behind Zelos. That wasn't going to be enough to stop his father when he was in a pisser unfortunately. Kratos walked straight for him, grabbed him by the arm and started to drag him out of Zelos's bedroom.

"You are GROUNDED for LIFE Lloyd!" Kratos boomed at the top of his lungs.

"Lloyd?" Zelos exclaimed, sounding thoroughly disgusted. Suddenly, Lloyd was in the dancing clothes Zelos had given him for the club. "How could you? I thought we were friends! How could you pull off something so… so DISGUSTING just to be with me?"

The harsh words brought tears to Lloyd's eyes for some reason he couldn't place his finger on. He had never wanted it to turn out like this. Now he was going to have absolutely no money because Sheena would demand him to give all he had to her that he'd earned, and Zelos would make sure that everyone would turn their back on him. He'd become an outcast, not only in public, but within his family as well.

"But… But Zelos…," Lloyd trailed off.

"Get out of here. You mean nothing to me," Zelos said, turning his back to the brunet as Kratos dragged him all the way out of the mansion.

Once they'd gotten outside though, Lloyd noticed that the outside appeared to be the dancing club Zelos had taken him to, except the ceiling and walls seemed nonexistent and there were far more people than he'd remembered. As he looked around while his father dragged him onwards through the grinding couples, he saw orange. His stomach dropped.

It was Phoenix.

"Someone's been a bad boy," the man grinned wolfishly, licking at his lips upon seeing Lloyd. Kratos handed him off to the orangette. "It seems I'll have to be the one to punish you."

"B-But Dad!"

"I don't want to hear anything else from you Lloyd. You betrayed my trust and lied to me. I can't believe you would do this!" Kratos yelled. "He's all yours, Phoenix."

"Why, thank you. I shall do my best to punish him." Lloyd had only looked away from his dad for a split second, and when he turned his attention back to Kratos, he had disappeared. He felt his face being tilted up to face Phoenix's own. "You're all mine now little one…"

%%%%%%%%%%

"OH DEAR GODDESS, NO!" Lloyd screamed, shooting up from the bed and hitting his head against something else. "Dammit, ow!"

Lloyd's hands flew o his forehead as he fell back against the pillows, trying to see what exactly it was that he'd hit. But when he felt something fall to his side as well as a yelp of pain in the form of a swearword, he couldn't help but to feel a little embarrassed. It seemed that Zelos had been leaning over him and he had managed to bang their heads together fairly hard.

"Mother fucker, Bud!" Zelos groaned, grabbing at his head, underneath his long bangs. "Ow! What the FUCK were you dreaming about? Were you getting anally probed? By aliens? WITH ORANGE FUCKING HAIR?"

For a moment, Lloyd was too focused on is head to answer back. The dizziness that was left over from the night prior certainly wasn't helping the pain go away any faster.

"Something like that… I can't really remember it anymore. What… What the hell were going doing sitting on top of me like that though?" Lloyd frowned.

"Well, I was coming in to wake you up, but I noticed that you were moving around a lot. I thought I'd try and get you up without scaring you too terribly much," Zelos said, still rubbing his forehead. "I guess I got here a little too late though."

"_How does getting right in my face and being on top of me when I wake up not justify as just a little bit scary? Especially after a dream like that!_" Lloyd thought to himself.

Lloyd decided not to ask again though as to why the redhead had been straddling him and leaning in so close to his face with his own. He had a thought that Zelos wouldn't e giving him a straight forward answer any time soon.

"So, other than trying to give you a concussion, I think we should get our day started with something fun. But first, are you hungry at all?" Zelos asked, now laying his head on his right hand to look over at the boy.

As if on cue, Lloyd's stomach rumbled loudly. All Lloyd could do was nod, blushing some while doing so, as Zelos grinned and jumped off the bed. The redhead offered his hand to Lloyd, who gladly took it. He could never say no to food, especially if his stomach was rudely reminding him that it was getting hungry.

"Well, come on then! Sebastian can cook us up whatever it is you feel like having today!"

Lloyd was then dragged down the stairs, almost tripping once, and pulled into the kitchen to be greeted by Sebastian. The brunet gave a shy wave, still embarrassed that Sebastian knew what had happened the night before. He was grateful, however, that the butler didn't seem to feel the need to press the matter any further than what had already been discussed with him and Zelos.

Lloyd sighed in relief.

So breakfast began after Zelos finally coaxed Lloyd into telling Sebastian what they wanted, which was simply bacon, eggs, and pancakes. Luckily, Sebastian kept the fridge and cabinets regularly stocked with almost everything imaginable.

As Sebastian started cooking, Zelos started on with a topic of conversation with Lloyd that he felt the need to talk to about. The conversation was a bit one sided though since Lloyd was only giving a few nods and 'mhmm's as replies to keep Zelos going on about whatever it was he was going on about. Lloyd's mind was more occupied elsewhere.

The dream he'd woken up from had him thinking a bit. It had exploited the greatest fear he'd been holding for a while, other than Phoenix. What if his dad somehow found out about his job? Would he make sure to let Zelos know what was going on? And if Zelos ever found out about it, would he be as disgusted as he had appeared to be in the dream? Would he really turn his back on him for good?

For some reason, when Lloyd thought about that, his chest seemed to hurt. He reached for it and clutched at the black tank top that he was wearing. The look of pure hatred that he'd seen on the dream world Zelos tore straight through his heart, or at least felt like it did. Just the thought alone of losing Zelos completely was starting to make him very upset.

Zelos immediately caught on as soon as the nods and 'mhmm's started to dwindle in appearances.

"Are you okay, Bud?" Zelos asked. This pulled Lloyd from his thoughts instantly, making him sit up straight and slap a smile on.

"Yup! I'm just fine. I think I'm just really hungry!" he said, forcing a laugh. This didn't seem to convince Zelos right away though.

"Are you sure? You can talk to me about anything, Bud."

Lloyd simply nodded, keeping his smile up to try and help to convince Zelos a little more. A few moments later, Zelos bought the act and went on with his story. As he went on, Lloyd felt obliged to ask something, just to help comfort his worries, even if it was only going to be a little bit.

"Zelos?" The redhead stopped talking to look over at Lloyd with a smile. "If… If someone you trusted… If they had a secret, a really BIG one, that he or… she was keeping from you, and you… somehow found out about it, be it the person keeping the secret telling you, or you finding out on your own—" Sebastian kept a keen ear on the conversation "—and it could possibly make you very, er, upset… would you be able to ever, well, forgive that person? Would you still be their friend at least? I'm… kind of worried about a friend I have… and how he'll react." Sebastian chuckled a bit, waiting for Zelos's answer.

"What do you mean? A secret like a big lie? Or a secret like something else?"

"I guess… a lie." Lloyd swallowed, biting on his tongue, hating to have to admit to it while the other was completely oblivious.

Zelos was silent for a while in deep thought. The silence wasn't of much comfort to Lloyd or Sebastian, but neither spoke up so as not to get a rushed, and possibly unwanted answer.

"You know, I'm not really sure, to be completely honest. It's been so long since I've actually trusted someone enough to really care about what anyone does anymore." Zelos leaned back in the chair he was sitting in and put his feet on the table in front of him. "Hell, I probably couldn't care less. If I found out something that was being hidden from me from someone I trusted just a little bit, I think I'd just get on with life. There are things I keep from people for good reasons. I'm sure that person would have their reasons to as well."

It wasn't the answer that Lloyd was hoping for in particular, but it was much better than him flat out saying he'd never forgive him. It was then that Sebastian walked over to the two, bringing them their plates. Lloyd noticed that the butler was smiling very gently at him.

"Enjoy breakfast, Master Zelos, Sir Bud."

"Thank yo—Wait, what?" Lloyd asked, taken back by the name.

"Heeeey, I think I like that!" Zelos grinned, devilishly. "You don't mind addressing him like that from now on do you, Sebastian?"

Lloyd's eyes widened.

"Of course not, sir."

"Then from now on, you are Sir Bud to Sebastian!" Zelos laughed, patting Lloyd on the back.

"_Why do I have a bad feeling about this?_" Lloyd thought to himself as he covered his pancakes in syrup. "_I don't… see anything wrong with it, really… Still… I have a bad feeling Zelos is going to make a game of it somehow._"

%%%%%%%%%%

-An hour later-

"COME ON BUD!" Zelos called out to the outside changing room that was next to his massive pool. "I WANNA SEE HOW IT LOOKS ON YOU! It's getting lonely in here! Don't tell me your shy about being in a swimsuit!"

"I-I am not!"

No. Lloyd could care less about Zelos seeing him in a swimsuit. It was his legs that he was worried about. They were still cleanly shaven, since Sheena had made him shave them again on Thursday before he had to go to work. He wasn't sure if Zelos would accept them like that, since apparently Zelos did the same thing, or if he would laugh and make fun of him.

"_Which would be hypocritical if Sheena really meant it,_" Lloyd frowned to himself.

"If you don't hurry up, I'm going to drag you out and throw you into the fucking pool!" Zelos threatened.

"Well shit," Lloyd mumbled, now folding his clothes up.

The door to the changing room swung open, leaving Lloyd at a loss. A wild grin was on Zelos's face as he grabbed Lloyd around the waist, pulling the boy's back to his chest and lifting him up off the ground completely.

"YOU ONLY GAVE ME FIVE SECONDS!" Lloyd yelled, struggling to get out of Zelos's grasp.

"I told you to hurry it up, didn't I?" Zelos laughed, watching his step as he walked backwards to the pool. "You'd better hold your breath, Bud."

Very suddenly, Zelos jumped backwards into the pool's deep end, bringing Lloyd down with him. The brunet was quick to hold his breath before he was completely underneath the cold water. He could feel Zelos letting him go so they could resurface without drowning each other.

As soon as he was above the water's surface, Lloyd took a sharp inhale of breath, trying to spot Zelos. When he didn't see him, Lloyd became nervous. He was completely helpless on the deep end of the pool, especially since Zelos was considerably stronger than him it seemed. He then caught a sight of red.

A little too late.

Zelos jumped up from under the water and tackled Lloyd back under the water, only to release him once he'd been completely submerged. Once again, he quickly returned to the surface to take another gasp of air that Zelos apparently didn't want him to be breathing in. He'd lost track of Zelos again, and again, he didn't spot him in time as he was tackled from behind and under the water once more.

This time, Lloyd peeked his eyes open under the water to see if he could catch sight of Zelos. Nothing but a greenish-blue color filled his sight. He looked around, desperately trying to catch just a glimpse of movement in the water, but alas, Lloyd was grabbed from behind and around the waist and pulled up out of the water and lightly tossed into the air and to another section of the pool.

"DAMMIT ZELOS!" Lloyd yelled before grabbing at his nose to hold air in as he fell under the water again. Before he fell under the water this time, he heard a haughty chuckle from his right.

"_I'll get you this time, ya asshole,_" Lloyd thought to himself, resurfacing for a moment, only to return to the water.

At last, he caught sight of Zelos under the water, and he made sure to circle around behind him as fast as he could. He tried his best to wait until Zelos emerged from the depths of the pool to get some air. It wasn't long before what Lloyd was waiting for finally happened. Lloyd then swam up right behind Zelos and jumped up out of the water to try and simply dunk his head under. However, as soon as he got above the water, Zelos had already ducked, swam under Lloyd and grabbed his legs to force the boy to sit on his shoulders and pulled him under. It wasn't long after that Zelos got his feet on the bottom of the pool and rocketed out of the water, flinging the poor brunet clear across the pool.

Luckily, Lloyd had been thrown over to the shallower end of the pool, so he quickly made it over to the part of the pool where he could actually walk on the bottom of the pool while keeping his head afloat. He turned around to where Zelos had thrown him, throwing a glare at the redhead who was laughing at Lloyd at all the fun he'd been having with the boy.

"You're such an ass," Lloyd growled.

"I can't help it when I'm in the pool," Zelos said, laughing. "This is my territory after all! I completely own the pool! What else did you think we would do in here anyways? Chat around like little girls? I think not!" He was now floating around on his back. "By the way, nice legs. I didn't think anyone else in this town that wasn't a girl shaved them either."

Lloyd huffed, some of his hair falling in his face. He never really liked how his hair looked when it was wet. It would always droop down in front of his eyes uncomfortably when he didn't want it too. Trying to remove the hair from his eyes, Zelos simply watched, smiling happily at how cute Lloyd was when he was agitated.

"You should grow your hair out like mine. It doesn't get so bad after it gets to a certain length," Zelos said. "Maybe not quite as long as mine, but I think you'd look good with your hair down to your shoulders."

Brown eyes blinked owlishly.

"You really think so? I've never actually thought about doing that before." Lloyd knew his dad wouldn't have too much of an issue with it, seeing as that his own hair was shoulder length, and Yuans was nearly as long as Zelos's. "It would save on having to pay for haircuts every month."

Lloyd found himself talking to a bunch of water. It appeared that Zelos had ducked under the water once again. The brunet tried desperately to find Zelos swimming towards him under the water, but he saw absolutely nothing in front of him, other than water.

"There's no WAY that he's THAT fast at swimming," Lloyd said, still looking around the deep end in front of him, inching over to the point that his feet couldn't touch the bottom of the pool.

"That's because I can walk over faster than I can swim, Bud," Zelos's voice came up from the side of Lloyd. The redhead was standing at the edge of the pool, showing off his black and pink swim trunks. "Look out below!"

All Lloyd could do was wait for the impact and be grabbed in a tackle hug into the water. Once under the water, Zelos flipped over so he could cuddle Lloyd on top of his chest. He liked the feeling of holding the smaller boy in his arms and nuzzling against his chest. But the moment certainly couldn't last too long, because air was essential. So he pulled himself up to the surface of the pool, bringing Lloyd up with him still against his body.

Instinct had Lloyd bring his head up to gasp for air, which resulted in him realizing just how close the two boys were to each other. Zelos's piercing blue eyes stared gently back into his own at only a few centimeters away. Lloyd could feel Zelos's nose pressing right against his own as well as his breath on his lips.

Lloyd's face was red in an instant as he awkwardly threw his glance sideways, turning his head to the side as well.

"Are you always gunna look away from me when we're close to each other like this?"

"_What?_"

The question had caught Lloyd off guard and quickly turn back to face the redhead to try and come up with something to say in response. He discovered he had nothing though. Now he was looking awkwardly up at Zelos with a silly blush on his face that he couldn't, for the life of him, get rid of.

"You have nice eyes."

And Zelos released Lloyd, diving underneath the water, leaving Lloyd to blush just a little harder.

"_What did he mean by looking away from him?_" Lloyd thought to himself. "_It's… just a reflex, I think…_" He felt two hands grabbing his legs to pull him under the water again. "_Not this fucking time._"

So Lloyd let himself get pulled under this time, quickly turning around and grabbing at Zelos's leg to stop him from resurfacing for just a moment. Catching him at a disadvantage, once Lloyd released Zelos, he quickly resurfaced, which gave Lloyd just enough time to get up behind him, put his hands on the larger boy's shoulders, and finally dunk him down under the water. It may not have been as epic as Zelos tossing him across the pool, but it was good enough for Lloyd.

His victory didn't last long though. Zelos retaliated with another tackle hug around the waist and under the water.

The battle continued for a few more hours.

%%%%%%%%%%

-At Lloyd's house-

"Thank you so much for having me over!" Lloyd smiled, waving back at Sebastian and Zelos. Zelos was hanging out halfway through the passenger side window and waving wildly with both arms. "See ya later Zelos!"

Lloyd turned off to his house, a bit of a skip in his step. He could hear an elongated "bye" from Zelos as Sebastian drove them off down the street and around the corner. The boy giggled to himself, reaching for the doorknob. He was planning on how he would tell Yuan about his day with his friend, and possibly about the night, but his thoughts were erased from his mind when he heard glass breaking.

"What the fuck?"

Instead of opening the door, Lloyd went over to a window at the side of his house. Upon looking in, he immediately saw the issue.

Mithos was back in his house again, and he'd apparently thrown something off in Yuan's direction. Lloyd scowled in high disapproval. He didn't need to see anything else happen to feel the need to go inside. He threw the door open, and could now clearly hear Mithos yelling at Yuan as his dad was trying his best to keep Mithos from throwing and breaking anything else.

"You have no right to be here anymore you piece of crap!" Mitos screamed, managing to find another vase to throw at Yuan. The scowling blunet simply dodged it as it went past him and crashed into a wall. "You don't deserve any kind of happiness in this house!"

"Mithos, please stop this!" Kratos said, now trying to pull back at the blond.

"Dad! What the hell is—"

As soon as Mithos saw Lloyd come into the hallway, he made it a point to grab him by the collar of his shirt and shove him back onto the floor. This made Kratos release Mithos immediately to see if Lloyd was okay.

"I don't need brats like you interfering," Mithos growled, glaring at Lloyd.

As soon as Mithos turned around though, he was punched right in the jaw and was forced to take a few steps back. Lloyd noticed that Yuan's scowl had intensified ten fold as soon as Mithos had shoved him back away from him.

"Don't you EVER so much as lay a FINGER on them," Yuan said through grit teeth. "This is between me and you. If you hurt either of them again, Mithos, I will beat the shit out of you. And you're lucky that it's just that. If Kratos wasn't your friend in any way at all, I'd fucking kill you. So if you're going to hurt anyone while you're upset with me, you had better fucking watch what you do."

Kratos's eyes widened at the words he never imagined would come from Yuan's mouth. Yuan had always been very quiet when something or someone upset him. For the most part, he'd just smile or in very intense situations, voice his opinion. Kratos had never actually seen Yuan so much as hit another human being in his life.

Mithos started laughing, having recovered from the surprising blow to his jaw. He looked back towards Lloyd, smirked, and bowed.

"I _apologize_, Lloyd. I shouldn't have done that…" Something about Mithos's grin had Kratos a bit on edge. Mithos then looked back to Yuan. "I never thought you would actually get the balls to hit me, you piece of shit. You've always been so reserved, so quiet. Things might get interesting from now on. I must admit, you've made me happy for once." Mithos took a few steps closer to the man he'd been fighting with. "Not that it really matters. Every time I look at you, you disgust me. You don't deserve to even call yourself Kratos's friend. I mean, where were you for the past two years?" Yuan's frown deepened. "What, did I hit a nerve? Maybe you should hit me again. Put me in my place. Come on. Do it."

Kratos, once he was sure that Lloyd was okay, he quickly got up and stood in between Mithos and Yuan. He was facing Mithos, making sure that the two were separated. A look of disapproval was on Kratos's face as he looked at Mithos, who was purely stunned.

"Kratos, get out of the way," Mithos ordered. Kratos didn't move from his spot. "Get out of the way, now!"

"I want you to get out of my house this very instant," Kratos said, his body shaking a bit, but keeping a stern face about him. "You have no right to come into my home and harass my son, or my guests. I may work for you, but that doesn't mean you can do as you wish."

"But why would you protect _him_?" Mithos asked, getting as close as he could to the redhead. "He abandoned you, yet you welcome him back so eagerly. I'm here. I've always been here. So why do you choose him over me?"

The blond leaned in over to Kratos's ear and whispered something only he could hear. When he pulled away, Kratos's eyes had widened, and his face paled. The man dropped to his knees, and Yuan instantly was at his side, trying his best to comfort him. Mithos only smiled triumphantly as he turned on his heel and walked to the front door.

"I will take my leave now, seeing as that you want me out. I'll be back though." He threw a glare at Yuan one last time before he opened the door. "This isn't the last you'll see of me Yuan. Cherish your happiness while you can… if you'll even be allowed to."

Again, Mithos laughed almost mockingly, and then exited the house. Lloyd got up from where he'd been tossed down to and sat down next to his dad to try and get him to say what was wrong. Kratos seemed to be at a loss of words as Yuan was shaking him gently at his shoulders. Lloyd didn't know what to do at this point. Yuan always had a knack at getting his father to talk, and now that Kratos wasn't so much as looking at his friend, Lloyd knew Mithos had said something horribly wrong.

Lloyd got up and ran out the door after the blond to try and get something out of him before he drove away. Mithos was unlocking his car door as Lloyd got out of the house and started after him.

"Mithos, what the fuck did you do!" Lloyd yelled at him. Mithos stopped, not feeling too threatened that Lloyd was the one who came after him. "You'd better fucking say something, you bastard!"

"And what would you do if I didn't?" Mithos frowned at the boy. "You couldn't possibly do anything about it, even if I did tell you." Mithos started to laugh again. "You're just a pathetic child. You don't know anything, and since you don't, you need to get your nose out of where it doesn't belong."

Feeling the need to yell back at Mithos, he suddenly saw a familiar car turn around the corner. It was Zelos's car.

"Hey Lloyd! You forgot your bag!" the redhead called out to him. Sebastian parked the car right next to the boy, a goofy looking grin on his face. "Is something the matter Lloyd?" Zelos looked around Lloyd to find Mithos looking back at him. "Mithos?"

"Zelos," Mithos said, returning the awkward greeting.

"You two KNOW each other?" Lloyd asked, not knowing what to think.

"Yeah, of course," Zelos said, cocking an eyebrow at Lloyd. "He helped my family with a murder case quite a few years back. We were able to find the killer thanks to the person he hired to do the job."

Fists clenched angrily, Lloyd could feel himself shaking with a mixture of fear and rage. Mithos and Zelos knew each other. This meant that they were on friendly terms, or at least on terms that they could at least talk to each other and Zelos would believe anything he'd mention. That meant if Mithos found out about Lloyd's secret, he wouldn't hesitate to mention something to both Zelos and Kratos.

"Bud?" Zelos asked, tugging at his arm after noticing his trembling. "What's wrong?"

"I-I uhm…" Lloyd grabbed his bag that Zelos had gently placed on the ground. "Th-thank you…"

After throwing his bag over his shoulder, Lloyd ran off to the house, not wanting to get Zelos too upset with him. They'd had such a nice day that Lloyd didn't want to be the one to ruin it. But as he reached his house, he heard Zelos's car door open and footsteps coming after him.

"Lloyd, please wait!"

As asked, Lloyd stopped at the door, feeling tears pressing at his eyes. He felt a warm, comforting hand grab at his arm to turn him around. Lloyd could see the worry in Zelos's eyes because of what had just happened, and he felt terrible because of it.

"Lloyd, what's wrong?" Zelos asked, keeping his hand on Lloyd's arm to make sure he wouldn't run off again. He could now clearly feel Lloyd's body quivering. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No! Of course not… I… I just…" Lloyd couldn't find the words to say. "I…"

It was then that Zelos pulled Lloyd over to him and simply hugged him. Lloyd, a little shocked at the sudden action, didn't know what else to do, so he grabbed tightly at Zelos's shirt and nuzzled his face into the other's chest. He could feel Zelos's hands rubbing gently at the brunet's back, trying to comfort the boy.

"He always causes… so much trouble… for my dad…," Lloyd managed to say.

"Who, Mithos?" Zelos asked. Lloyd nodded. He could hear Mithos's car taking off. "I can believe that. He's definitely a pain in the ass at the most inconvenient of times. Well, can't your dad just tell him to leave him alone?"

"No… he works for Mithos…," Lloyd said, sighing.

He felt content being in Zelos's arms like he was. Just a simple hug. Nothing flirtatious, nothing suggestive, nothing sexual… just a hug. Lloyd closed his eyes, hoping the moment could last a little longer than it was meant to, but he heard the door to his house opening behind him. His eyes snapped open as he tried to step back, but Zelos held him securely in place. Not being able to see who was behind him, Lloyd hoped that it was Yuan.

Luckily, his prayers were answered.

"Ah, uhm," Yuan's voice started up awkwardly. "Why, uh, hello Zelos. Interesting seeing you here…"

"Hey Yuan. I thought you didn't have any kids," Zelos frowned.

"Heh, no, I don't. He's my friend's son. Adorable little guy, isn't he?" Yuan said, sounding like it was meant as a joke.

"Actually, I have to agree," Zelos smiled, patting the boy on the head. There was a pause on Yuan's side of the conversation as if he hadn't quite been expecting that answer. "I'm assuming you need him back?"

"Er, yeah. We've got a little bit of a mess to clean up inside," Yuan said, sounding like something was wrong. "Plus I have some dinner to make…"

"Oh, well, let me just hold him a little bit longer," Zelos said, now resting his head on top of Lloyd's. Lloyd felt his cheeks burning red. "He seemed upset about something earlier, so I figured a hug would help."

Another moment of silence from Yuan. Lloyd felt that the blunet was definitely going to have something to say to him after dinner in private. It seemed that Yuan, just as Sheena did, knew more about Zelos's particular behaviors better than Lloyd did, and the way Zelos was acting right at that moment had to have Yuan questioning all that he knew of the redhead. Lloyd mentally swore.

"So are you sure you're going to be okay, Bud?" Zelos asked, still sounding a bit worried. Lloyd nodded wordlessly. "If you say so. I'll see you at school on Monday, okay?" Zelos finally released Lloyd and started to make his way over to his car and started waving back at Lloyd. "Bye Bud!"

"Bye," Lloyd shyly smiled, waving back. He turned back to finally face Yuan, who was smirking devilishly down at Lloyd, who was still blushing. "What?"

"You're telling me EVERYTHING after dinner, 'Bud'," Yuan said, ruffling his hair. "Until then, come on, we need to clean up the mess that Mithos left for us. I got your dad resting in your room for now so we can get everything together. And don't worry too much about him, okay? I'll be sure to take good care of him… Just like Zelos can take good care of you."

"I-i-it's not like that!" Lloyd exclaimed, clearly embarrassed. "W-we're just friends! That's all!"

"Okay, whatever. We'll save that for later. For now, let's just get the hallway cleaned up," Yuan said, brushing off Lloyd's denial. "Don't want anyone walking around barefoot while there's broken glass all on the ground."

%%%%%%%%%%

-Later that night-

"Okay, come on, spill it!" Yuan said, closing Lloyd's door behind him so Kratos couldn't hear what was going on. "I know you're hiding something from me. There is no way that Zelos is THAT friendly to you without one hell of a reason."

"What, we can't just be friends?" Lloyd asked nervously. "Last I checked, friends hug other friends, right? Sooo…"

"So, Zelos isn't just friends with a GUY in a few days like THAT. Zelos has very good reasons for hating men, and to him, you should've been under the list of random men that he doesn't want to associate with. He's usually pretty offensive right off the bat when it comes to guys."

"I don't know why he's different around me," Lloyd shrugged. "He just is."

Right then, Lloyd's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was Zelos. Motioning to Yuan to shut up, he answered it.

"Hey Zelos," Lloyd said.

Yuan crossed his arms over his chest and snorted at the boy. Lloyd shrugged his shoulders yet again, not seeing too much of an issue that it was Zelos he was going to be talking to. Just because Yuan was trying to get Lloyd to see that Zelos was acting weird, didn't mean that when Zelos called him that it was weird. Friends called friends. It was simple as that.

"Hey Lloyd, how are you doing?" Zelos asked.

"I'm fine. Just finished dinner. What about you?"

"Ah, well, I wanted to call and make sure that you were doing okay." Lloyd's cheeks reddened some. "You seemed so upset earlier…"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine now," Lloyd responded. He shoved at Yuan who was making a little kissy face. "Mithos is just an asshole."

"Yeah, well… I wanted to make sure. But anyways, I thought I'd ask if it'd be okay if you came over next Friday? It was nice having you over yesterday and today," Zelos said.

"Really?" Lloyd asked, getting excited just thinking about being asked over again. "Do you really mean it?"

"Of course, Bud. I wouldn't ask just to get your hopes up. It's kinda fun having a night to us guys."

"What's he saying? What's he saying? Why are you smiling like that Lloyd? Do I have to go over and kick his ass to make sure he doesn't do anything dirty to my little Lloyd?" Yuan asked, trying to grab hold of Lloyd's phone. "If you can hear me Zelos, you'd better keep your hands to yourself!"

His face bright red, Lloyd kicked Yuan off his bed and hid under his covers to talk. However, Yuan grabbed the comforter and threw it off the bed and on to the floor, tackling Lloyd to try and get his word in.

"OH MY FUCKING GODDESS, YUAN, BACK THE FUCK OFF!" Lloyd yelled at the man.

All Lloyd could hear on the other side of the phone was some quiet snickering. "Tell him I'll think about it."

"He says he'll think about—Wait wh-what?" Lloyd stammered, holding Yuan back with his feet as he had his back against the wall.

"Heh, heh… nothing Bud. Nothing at all. I'll just call you back later when you don't have someone hounding you down," Zelos chuckled. "Talk to ya later, Bud."

"Bye Zelos," Lloyd said, ending the conversation. "Dude, what the fuck, Yuan? I was trying to talk to him!"

"I know that. But come on, you've never made that face before…," Yuan trailed off, smiling gently.

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"Oh come on Lloyd, don't be like that… You like him, don't you?" Yuan said, nudging Lloyd's shoulder.

"Y-You're CRAZY!" Lloyd frowned, his blush deepening. "H-He's a guy. I… I don't like guys like that!"

All Yuan did was grin suggestively and raise his eyebrows like he didn't believe him. This upset Lloyd to the point of shoving the older man off of his bed to land on the floor. There was no way that he could have feelings for another man. He hid his face in his hands to hide the very obvious blush.

"Well, it's not wrong for a man to like another man. Really, Bud, you're the one that told me that. But, if you don't feel like admitting it now, that's fine." Yuan reclaimed his seat on the bed right next to Lloyd. "Just know, if you ever feel like talking about it to me, let me know. I will take time out of my day just for you Lloyd if I need to. You're important, and so are your feelings, whatever they may be."

"He's just very… relaxing for me to be around," Lloyd said quietly, bringing his knees to his chest. "I don't know what it is, but I feel happy around him. I feel free to be myself and… I don't know Yuan, I don't know why he acts that way around me. Maybe it's just been so long since he's had a friend of the same gender, he acts like that around me because he acts the same way around girls he likes."

Yuan wanted to press the matter more because he knew for a fact that Zelos had feelings for him. He wouldn't have put time out of his day to try and see if someone was okay, boy or girl. For the most part, Zelos was self-centered and cared about no one. He always held up a wall to make sure he wouldn't get hurt.

However, Lloyd appeared to be so uncomfortable just talking about that Yuan decided that it would be better to let Lloyd come to him about it. Forcing something he wasn't ready to admit out of him could possibly make the relationship he had with Zelos crumble, and that was the last thing that Yuan wanted. He could tell that Lloyd was happy just being around Zelos, and the past few days, even as he complained about how Zelos was so touchy when he was dressed as Dolly, he could see that if Zelos was removed from the boy's schedule, it would make him very sad, or at the very least depress him for a while.

"Well, anyways, why don't you tell me about yesterday and today. I'm sure you had a good time over there, judging by your mood at dinner," Yuan said.

"Actually… if I tell you about yesterday, you have to promise to keep a secret from my dad. It's really, really…"

"I won't tell, just as long as it's not too bad," Yuan said, patting the boy on the head.

"Well, Zelos took me to a dance club yesterday night. Oh! By the way, you have to look at the outfit that he gave me! It's really cool!" Lloyd went over to his backpack and pulled out the nicely folded clothes and laid them out on the floor. "Aren't they frikkin awesome!"

"Yeah, they are," Yuan said, looking the clothing over. "I bet he liked how you looked in them."

"Sh-shut up Yuan. But yeah, he did a good job picking it out. Anyways, well, we went to the club and he went out and started dancing with a few girls and I was waiting for him to get back. Then this random guy comes and sits next to me and drugs my drink." Yuan's face hardened at those words.

"He didn't DO anything to you did he?"

"Ah, no, not to Zelos's or my knowledge. But he, uh, somehow got me to dance with him or something… and, uhm… well… he uh…" Lloyd's cheeks flared up again. "… He… he kissed me."

"He did?" Lloyd nodded his head, embarrassed.

"Zelos said that he did. I barely remember it, but I vaguely remember kissing… him, I think. Well, if Zelos said he did, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that's what happened. Yuan." Lloyd started to puppy dog pout. "That was my first kiss. I wanted to save it for someone special."

"Oh, you'll be fine. You were under the influence of something. It doesn't count," Yuan said, waving it off.

"Yuuuaaaan," Lloyd whined, not wanting to take that for an answer. "I vaguely remember it happening. It has to count."

"Hey, I was trying to make the situation better for you. If you don't want to take that, then I suggest you stop complaining and just take it like a man, even if you kissed a gay man who probably intended you to play the girl part of the whole thing he did to you," Yuan grinned.

"Yuan!" Lloyd yelled. "Shut the fuck up!"

"Okay, okay, so what else happened? I'm sure you were taken home immediately after your little incident. Surely you didn't just sit in bed all day. If I recall correctly, your hair was a bit wet when you walked through the door."

"Oh, yeah, Zelos has this HUGE pool! We were in there for a few hours just messing around. That was really, REALLY fun! We basically just tried to dunk each other for the duration of the time that we were in the pool. At the end though, we just talked. It's nice to be able to do that, you know. I like having him as a friend. He's really cool and fun."

Yuan laughed a little as he saw the happy look slide onto his face. It was a look of admiration that he was only too familiar with, seeing as that he always wore that look whenever he was around Kratos. He knew why Lloyd was so nervous about being so open of his feelings for Zelos though. His father was very protective of Lloyd. If Kratos was to find out that his only child was in a relationship that he could possibly get hurt in, he would make sure to try and keep Lloyd out of it. Not to mention, Yuan and Lloyd weren't entirely sure how Kratos would react if Lloyd ended up with another guy. That was why Yuan was so worried about admitting his feelings the Kratos.

"I'm glad that you two are turning out to be such good friends. So what'd he call you about?"

"He's inviting me over next Friday. I don't know what we're going to do, but I'm pretty sure that it's going to be fun."

"No more clubs though," Yuan smiled. "We don't need Zelos to completely lose sight of you and have something really bad happen you. Oh, and speaking of, if you find the person that did that to you, let me or your dad know. You don't have to tell Kratos what happened between you two, but I'm pretty sure using drugs on a minor is illegal…"

"I'll let you know if I see him again. But I'm getting tired though, Yuan. I'm going to go to bed," Lloyd said, yawning and cuddling under his blankets. "Are you going to be here tomorrow?"

"Just for the morning. After that I'll be at work for a few days, but if you guys want, I can come back here after work until I stay here for a few more days." Lloyd nodded. "Okay, I'll do that. Good night, Lloyd."

"Good night, Yuan."

As Yuan shut the door, Lloyd grabbed a cologne bottle from under his bed. Lloyd smiled and sprayed it once on his pillow. He put the bottle back under his bed and grabbed his pillow and snuggled up against it.

"Smells just like him…," Lloyd trailed off. "Can't wait til Friday…"

After snuggling up to the pillow a little while longer, Lloyd finally fell asleep. Images of red filled his dreams for the rest of the night.

-End of Chaptero SieteO!-

Jazzimonster :: This was such a cute chapter~~

banANNU :: -putting band-aid on face- I know. ^^ I'm trying to get these two more into their relationship little by little. It's only been a week for Lloyd and they're already hitting it off so nicely~

Jazzimonster :: Okay, nannu… you need to post the next chapter this Saturday. You need to keep up with your posting once a week.

banANNU :: yeah… I know. -3- I've been such a zombie all week. I thought that working the overnight shifts would give me time to write since I'd bring my computer to work and type on break and lunch… that wasn't the case… But I'm going to write a lot more since I won't have much else to do for the next two days. I'm gunna be up in the mountains~~~ away from all the heat!

Jazzimonster :: Lucky…

banANNU :: I may have two chapters done by Saturday ;D That would be cool, right?

Jazzimonster :: SO LONG AS YOU POST THE CHAPTERS.

banANNU :: TT u TT Yes… indeed. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter~ And again, sorry for making you guys wait for this chapter. I didn't mean to get this posted so late. I'm going to do my best to keep up with posting. I love you all and will see you this Saturday!

Review of the week!  
Mizu Hoseki :: :'D Oh my goodness, indeed he did! I had started to feel kind of bad doing that to cute, little Lloyd, but it was definitely all worth it in the end, was it not? ;DDD  
btw, Kratos wasn't very nice about the last chapter… don't tell him anything anymore… I'll bribe you with homemade cookies if necessary… or possibly fanart~  
And I do have to agree… =\ I'm having a *fun* time trying to adjust to the entirely new layout. has been the same (from what I remember) for sooooo long. Q . Q; It's weird to see the new changes. But alas…  
I'm so glad that you like this chapter~ It was really fun to write! Well, to be totally honest, this entire story was really fun to write! X3 Thank you so much for your review! It made my night reading it on my phone on the overnight shift in the unhappiest place on earth x'''D *gives you a cookie brownie of friendship*


	8. Chaptero ocho

Title :: The New Job

Written By :: banANNU

Edited and Proofread by :: Jazzimonster

Rated :: M

-Review responses to my favorite people :D The reviewers! You make this worth writing-

Mizu Hoseki ::  
Yeah, your review was super awesome! It definitely made my week :'D *gives another cookie for you to nom on* :D Yeah, Kratos doesn't need to know about this chapter . Significant things happen in this chapter you see… bwahahahahaha~  
But yeah, I wasn't too keen on the new layout stuff. =3= Oh well. I doubt they'll ever change it back… Btw, may I pet your flamethrower? :O Jazz has one named Pookie~ Does yours have a name?  
Heh, heh, heh… Well, at least Mithos was meant to be hated in my story x3  
And yeah, it's not too much of a secret, but it will come into play later about the whole Kratos being assigned to the case Zelos was involved in :3 It will be an interesting chapter, I kid you not~ And my Yuan loves you! *Yuan enterz and givez a thumbz up* hee~ I hope to see you again for this chapter~! Your reviews are amazing! (gotta give someone else the review of the week xD People would hate me if I gave it all to one person x3)  
Muah~!

amikaze :: *throwz a rock at Mithos* Yeah, I never really liked Mithos in the game, so I thought he deserved some proper bashing. Hurr, hurr. We'll be finding out what was said to Kratos in the next chapter :3 I pinky promise! Something else interesting will be happening next chapter as well… something some of you may have forgotten… heh, heh, heh… But anyways, I do hope that you'll like this chapter! I'm so happy that you've been around to review for my story :'D It makes me so happy that I've got loyal fans like you x3 *gives a cookie of friendship* I hope to see your lovely review for the next chapter :D  
P.S. :: I love my new place now =Q= It's so nice to be on my own! This apartment is great for writing my stories in peace now~

ZaphiraX :: Oh my goodness! Reviews for all the chapters you missed! You are so frikkin awesome! Thank you so much! When I saw that I had three new reviews on my email, I was all happy and immediately went to and I was so happy to see your new reviews! I remembered loving your reviews from the previous chapters~ They're all so wonderful~ But anyways, I'm getting off topic xD There will be some more Mithos bashing in the next chapter. :3 I wanted to focus this one more around Zelos and Lloyd :3 They needed a little… bonding time. [: I hope to see you later after you read this chapter :D *gives a cookie of friendship* I LOVE YOU MY AWESOME SAUCE REVIEWER!

-Review to see your response in the next chapter!-

Disclaimer ::

BanANNU :: Welcome back everyone! I've only got a few days to write this chapter, but I'm up in the mountain. I have plenty of time to myself without too many distractions to get this done!

Jazzimonster :: Yeah, keeping up with your "I'm going to post every Saturday" would be a good thing to do. It'll keep trust up with your reviewers.

BanANNU :: ^^; Yeah, I know. I'm just glad that I can get some sleep since I don't have overnights all week anymore. Plus there shouldn't be any distractions since I've got no service for anything.

Zelos :: -enterz- Hey guys.

BanANNNU :: Zelos! -hugglz- Were's your significant other?

Zelos :: He's off somewhere thinking about something. But anyways, I've got a question for you.

BanANNU :: O.o What?

Zelos :: I've heard that you can draw… So why don't you draw out some of the scenes in your story?

BanANNU :: O_O If I don't finish this story by Saturday, you all know who to blame. –exitz-

Jazzimonster :: She is never going to get her disclaimer she wrote read by anyone if this continues.

Zelos :: Well, to make up for it, I'll simply say banANNU does not own any of the characters in TOS. The only ones she owns are Asaria, Kandee, Davo (or David), and Phoenix. By the way, you guys forgot to mention them last chapter. I'm pretty sure they don't exist in TOS.

Jazzimonster :: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, anyways, since Zelos announced nannu needing to draw out some scenes, you guys better expect a link to her deviantart to get some zelloyd yumminess. I'm pretty sure she'll include some Kruan stuff as well for you Kruan fans.

Zelos :: -ripz shirt off- FAN SERVICE FOR ALL!

Jazzimonster :: -facepalmz- Enjoy the fic…

VARNING :: Cuteness and mild drama up ahead! No smut yet, but there will be in the chapter after the next one… well, it may not be smut… if you don't understand, you will soon enough. *evil glint* heh, heh, heh…

-ENJOY-

Chaptero Ocho…O…  
(I think I'm going to stop doing that now ^^;;)

"You weren't sleeping were you?"

Lloyd had woken up to his phone vibrating under his pillow, and once he'd seen that it was Zelos who was calling, he answered it immediately. It was fairly early in the morning, something Lloyd wasn't used to waking up to, but for some reason, since it was Zelos, he felt obliged to answer anyways.

"No, no, I'm awake," Lloyd answered, sounding fairly groggy.

"Heh, I guess I should of asked if I had woke you up," Zelos laughed. "Well, now that you are awake, how are you doin', Bud? Did you sleep good?"

The brunet grabbed hold of his pillow and snuggled it up close to his face to smell the cologne he'd sprayed on it the night prior. He loved the familiar smell of the spray on his pillow. As he thought of an answer to the simple question he was asked, Lloyd simply smiled.

"Yeah, I did," Lloyd said. "Do you need something Zelos?"

"I wanted to check and make sure you got that little extra present I slipped into your bag along with the clothes I gave you," Zelos said.

"You what?" Lloyd exclaimed, trying to reach for his backpack. "Why'd you put something else in there? You shouldn't give me anything else! You've already given me so much. I'm pretty sure I don't deserve what you've given to me."

"Say that again and I'll be sure to slip you a little something extra when you're least expecting it," Zelos grinned, twirling at his hair and trying to sound as suggestive as he could. The tone went right over Lloyd's head as the brunet tried to grab his bag while staying on the bed. "You still there Bud?"

"Yeah… I've almost… got my—"

Lloyd was immediately cut off, which startled Zelos. It appeared that Lloyd had fallen off the bed and had dropped his phone somewhere off away from his face, since Zelos could only barely hear Lloyd swearing at his slip up. Zelos only laughed to himself. Growling in aggravation, Lloyd grabbed his bag and threw it onto his bed and fumbled around for his phone. Only a few seconds later, Lloyd found it hiding under his bed. He grabbed the phone and brought it to his face as he sat on the ground.

"Dropped my phone… sorry about that," Lloyd apologized. "Which pocket is it in?"

"Smallest one in the front."

Crawling up to his bed, Lloyd unzipped the front of his bag and reached into the pouch. He felt a small, black silk packaged and pulled it out of his backpack. Lloyd got himself comfortable by placing a pillow behind him and laying against the wall and wedged his phone between his head and his shoulder to make sure it didn't fall away from him while he opened his small gift. As he opened the bag, he saw a small shimmer, which perked Lloyd up some.

"It's a…"

Lloyd pulled out a small golden ring. His eyes lit up with excitement as he put it up above his head to get a better look at it. It was a very simple ring, just a simple golden band that looked like it would fit on one of his smaller fingers.

"Do you like it? If doesn't fit, you can give it back to me and I can get it resized," Zelos said.

Lloyd slid it on his right ring finger. The boy smiled at the perfect fit.

"It fits just fine," Lloyd said, beaming happily at the ring. "When did you get it? I don't ever remember you going off to go get something while I was over."

"I've actually had it for a while. It's… been sitting in a little box for the longest time. I've been trying to find someone to give it to for a while, since I myself never actually wear it, and you seemed to be the perfect person to let have it," Zelos said. "You do like it though, right?"

"I do," Lloyd said, blushing a bit. "Thank you, Zelos."

"Don't mention it, Bud. After all, I like you a lot. You only deserve the best."

And there it was. It wasn't really a confession, or at least Zelos didn't see it as a flat out confession, but he saw it as a start to something that could blossom nicely. He at least wanted Lloyd to know that he had some sort of feelings toward him, even though the brunet probably wouldn't take them the right way.

"You do?"

Zelos's heart skipped a beat. "Ye… yeah, of course I do, Lloyd."

Lloyd felt the blood rushing to his face. "Then, I like you a lot too, Zelos. Y-You're a really good friend."

"Heh, so I am. Well, uh, I guess I'll let you get back to sleep. I've got some things I would like to get ready for later today. I'll see you at school on Monday, okay?" Zelos felt his heart swelling with happiness.

"Okay," Lloyd said. "See you later, Zelos."

"Bye."

"Bye."

As soon as Lloyd ended the call, the door to Lloyd's room suddenly flew open, scaring Lloyd enough to throw a pillow in the direction of the doorway. When Lloyd saw who it was standing in his doorway, a frowned curled onto his lips.

Yuan had thrown himself through the door, probably having heard Lloyd fall out of his bed earlier. He'd more than likely come up the stairs to see what had happened, but once he'd heard Lloyd talking on his phone to Zelos, he decided to hold himself back from entering the room so he could hear what was going on, unbeknownst to Lloyd of course. After hearing the conversation was done, he couldn't help but to barge in to see the gift Zelos had given to Lloyd. Throwing the pillow over to the side that Lloyd had tossed at him, Yuan immediately dashed over to the boy to try and find what it was that had Lloyd so flustered.

"Where is it?" Yuan asked, grabbing at anything he possibly could, which included Lloyd's bag, both of Lloyd's feet, his head, an ear, an arm, and even Lloyd's shirt. That was when Yuan paused, mentally kicking himself. "Why would you have a belly ring when you don't even have your ears… ring. FINGERS!"

"Would you quit it Yuan? If you didn't try to grab tear me limb from limb, maybe I'd show you," Lloyd snapped. "And yes, it's a ring."

After Yuan stopped attacking Lloyd, the boy showed his right hand to the blunet. Instead of just looking though, Yuan made a grab at the hand and pulled the golden band closer to his face to inspect it. An agitated sigh was head on Lloyd's part as he let Yuan hold him in place. He was afraid that if he tried to take his hand back that Yuan might pop a joint out of place just to keep the ring nearby to look at it a little bit longer.

"Hm… it's just a ring…," Yuan said, sounding disappointed. "A necklace might've been a little more meaningful… Maybe it's got some sort of sentimental value to him?"

"Will you quit making it look like he's proposing to me?" Lloyd frowned. "It's just a ring, okay?"

"Heh, heh, funny how it only fits your ring fingers." Lloyd's frown deepened as another blush creeped onto his face. "Well, anyways, it is time to get up. I've got some breakfast ready for you downstairs before I've got to go to work."

"Why are you leaving so early?"

"Because I've got to be to work on time just like you do? Come on, you've got to get something to eat, okay? I'll be back tonight before you're done with work, which you're going to have to get ready for soon, by the way. And speaking of, you may want to take that ring off before you go to Sheena's to get ready," Yuan smiled, ruffling Lloyd's hair. "So get up. Last I remembered, you loved your bacon."

At the word 'bacon', Lloyd was immediately up out of bed and running downstairs. Yuan chuclked, following him down soon afterwards.

-At Sheena's house-

"He gave you a ring?" Kandee exclaimed, making a grab at Lloyd's hand. "Let me see, let me see!"

"I wonder why he would slip such a pretty ring into your bag for you," Asaria said, grinning a little bit.

"Sheena! Why are thy here?" Lloyd yelled at the girl. "You didn't invite them over did you?"

"Lloyd," Sheena started, sounding agitated after hearing about the small piece of jewelry that was on Lloyd's hand, "you know how they are. They knew you had work today, so they wanted to come over to see you get ready and go off to work for once. It's your own damn fault that you forgot to take your precious little present off before you came over."

"_I can't believe I forgot to take it off, even after Yuan told me to remember to make sure to take it off before coming over_," Lloyd sighed mentally. "_Nothing I can do about it now. And I wonder why Sheena's so upset. She seemed just fine when I walked in_."

After Kandee was done looking at the small ring in admiration, Sheena dragged the boy off upstairs into her room. She motioned off to the other two that she needed a moment between her and Lloyd alone, so Kandee and Asaria immediately became distracted with something else in the form of a conversation. Sheena closed the door behind her and turned over to Lloyd, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Okay, I'm going to come right out and say it, I'm worried about you Lloyd." This made Lloyd furrow his eyebrows in confusion. "Don't look at me like that, and before you go on about me being stupid for being worried, let me say what I need to say, okay?" Lloyd nodded, keeping his mouth shut. "Look, I know you don't see anything wrong with Zelos giving you that ring. I know you don't see anything wrong with how he's been acting around you, and I know that you don't see anything wrong with him wanting to hang out with you as friends. But Lloyd, that ring. It's… It's very weird that he gave you THAT ring. He's always been very attached to it. There was one time while I was cleaning his room when I was still working there that I accidentally came across it and when I came to ask him what to do with it, he freaked out. He never freaks out over anything, especially in front of girls."

Lloyd nervously looked down at the ring, twisting it around his finger.

"Look, he's gotten very close to you, very fast, and it's concerning. I don't want you getting hurt if he's trying to get something out of you through bribing, or whatever it is that you want because you have something he wants. You're a good person Lloyd, and I'm pretty sure that he's caught on to that. Please, just, be careful, okay? Zelos isn't exactly known for his hospitality or generosity towards anyone."

"I'll be fine, Sheena. I'm sure he has his reasons for giving it to me," Lloyd muttered, removing the ring from his finger and clasping it in his hands tightly. "You know if something happens, I'll let you know. You're my best friend, Sheena. Just let me have a friend on my own, okay?"

"I will, I will, but please Lloyd, let me know if something happens. I… know you two have kind of got something going, but just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that you should feel the need to keep anything from me," Sheena said, looking Lloyd in the eyes.

Sheena was already starting to suspect that Lloyd and Zelos liked each other, but was more unsure about how Zelos was going about it so openly. To her, it seemed like Zelos was hiding something, or at least being just a little too open about liking Lloyd. It hurt her seeing the person that she had liked for so long starting to show little signs of affections towards someone that she was so uncertain about him liking. But she and Lloyd had been friends since they were little, and she felt the need to support him in whatever he chose to do.

"I care about you Lloyd. Don't go getting yourself hurt."

"You worry too much Sheena. I'm pretty sure that he likes 'Dolly' a lot more than me being me anyways," Lloyd said, hiding behind a simple grin.

"_I hope that I'm only worrying too much…_," Sheena thought.

"Come on. I'm pretty sure we don't want to keep the girls waiting. I'm sure they want to help with something after I get dressed. Speaking of, I assume you already have something ready for me?" Lloyd asked.

Sheena put a smile on and went over to her closet to pull out a dress for Lloyd. She'd been trying to get Zelos to like Lloyd as Dolly more so that he would start to back off of Lloyd focus more on his female counterpart, but no matter how sexy she made Dolly, it didn't seem to effect how much Zelos seemed to like Lloyd. She figured she would try and talk to Sebastian to see what was going on between Zelos and Lloyd.

"Today I've got you a special dress. Kandee and Asaria both picked it out themselves, just for you," Sheena said, a grin slowly sliding onto her face. Lloyd sighed, shaking his head. "There was a bit of a problem with them choosing a color though, since Asaria isn't so big on pink and Kandee absolutely adores it, so they decided to make a compromise."

As soon as Lloyd saw the dress Sheena pulled out of her closet, he made a small whimpering noise.

"Zelos is going to absolutely adore you in this, 'Dolly' dear," Sheena cackled.

-At Zelos's mansion-

"Ah, Dolly, it's nice to see you again," Sebastian said after opening the door for Lloyd. There was a bright blush on Lloyd's face that he had no hope of hiding, and Sebastian could see why. "Thank you again for dropping her off, Sheena. We'll be seeing you later tonight I presume?"

"Yup. I'm her ride to just about anywhere, isn't that right, Dolly?" Sheena smiled, nudging at Lloyd's arm. He couldn't find any words to say, so his just nodded. "Guess she's feeling a little shy tonight. Well, I'll see you later. Bye guys!"

Sheena ran off to her car and let Kandee and Asaria wave their goodbyes to Lloyd before she drove off. Lloyd looked around Sebastian to see if he could find Zelos anywhere, but he was no where to be seen at the moment. Sebastian quickly caught on.

"If you're looking for Master Zelos, I'm afraid he's not going to be here up until you leave. He's got a few things to take care of tonight," Sebastian smiled. Lloyd heaved a huge sigh as he let a smile slide onto his face. "If you would like him to not see what you're wearing today at all, I could stall him."

Lloyd's eyes snapped up towards the butler, a pleading look in them as he nodded his head vigorously. This earned a small chuckle from Sebastian as he bowed and motioned Lloyd over to another part of the mansion.

"I have been meaning to talk to you, and since Zelos is out, it serves as the perfect time to bring it up." Lloyd had followed the older man into the kitchen. Sebastian pulled out a seat for Lloyd, and Lloyd happily took the offer. He was tempted to kick off his shoes while he sat down, but he decided against it.

"I guess you've already figured it out then," Lloyd smiled, not trying to mask his voice.

"Indeed, I did. I didn't think you'd be so willing to talk about it, Sir Bud," Sebastian chuckled, walking to the stove to make some hot chocolate. "Do you like hot chocolate, sir?"

"Yeah…," Lloyd answered. "Do you possibly have marshmallows?"

"I do have some," Sebastian said, reaching for some in a cupboard above the stove. "It'll be done in a few moments after the milk is done heating up."

"Th… thank you, Sebastian," Lloyd said, laying his head down on the table.

"It's not too terribly hard to make hot chocolate," Sebastian said, smiling his simple smile.

"No, I mean… not telling Zelos…" Lloyd looked out past a window outside. "It's not like I'm trying to keep this a secret forever… but…"

"It's not a problem. I understand why you're keeping this all a secret from him. Who in their right mind would tell him something as embarrassing as that after all? It isn't your every day situation, sir. But I do have to ask, I am starting to get the idea that you perhaps like Master Zelos," Sebastian said, turning to check on the milk.

"I don't… It's… It's…" Lloyd's face turned bright red at the blunt statement.

Sebastian laughed some, turning the heat down on the stove.

"I haven't asked the question yet," Sebastian said. "I was simply stating what I thought. I meant to ask you if you're okay with what you're doing."

Lloyd blinked at the butler in question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean if you're okay with pretending to be someone that Master Zelos has the potential to like while you two are, for a lack of better words, bonding as friends. You seem to want to be very close to him when you are just yourself, but when you're Dolly, there seems to be a little bit of a distraction that pulls him away from you as you." Lloyd's cheeks reddened some. "So, are you really okay with that?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine with that."

Sebastian brought Lloyd his glass of hot chocolate and placed a few marshmallows into the drink. He then took a seat next to the boy and gave him a gentle pat on the back as Lloyd blew on his drink.

"I'm… I'm pretty sure that I'm okay with that. I mean… Dolly isn't really real, so it shouldn't matter if he gives her more attention than he gives me, right?" Lloyd said, forcing a smile onto his face. "Besides, he only thinks of me as a friend anyways. It's… not a bad thing if he likes me as a girl."

Tears found their way to Lloyd's eyes, and he rubbed at them in an attempt to hide them, smudging the makeup Kandee had worked hard to perfect near his eyes. Sebastian gently rubbed the back of Lloyd's back in an attempt to comfort the boy. Lloyd couldn't hold himself back though and crossed his arms on the table and made some choked sobs.

"You know, Lloyd, you can stop to just be friends with him. It wouldn't be too hard to make Dolly simply disappear," Sebastian suggested to him.

"I… I can't," Lloyd sniffled. "I actually really need the money. I've got to buy my dad a mattress after I destroyed it a little while back. I've also never held a job… so Sheena's got me in a bet that if I lose and quit like she says I will, I have to forfeit all the money that I make."

"Well, if you feel the need to continue on, I won't stop you. However, I do suggest that you should do what makes you happy. You are a wonderful person, sir, and I'm sure you've had your fair share of people telling you how worried they are about you. I must say, you're quite a catch in many ways, and I surprised you don't have a real girlfriend," Sebastian smiled. "I wouldn't give up on Zelos though. He is rather fond of you, whether or not you realize it. He wouldn't offer up a day off to spend with someone he didn't like, I can tell you that much. He may not be known for being the nicest person towards people he doesn't particularly know, but when he wants to genuinely spend time with someone, he is trying his hardest to show that he is interested in them. Drink some of your hot chocolate, Lloyd. I'm sure it'll help."

Listening to Sebastian, Lloyd took a drink from his glass, the hot chocolate burning his throat a little, but tasting so wonderfully sweet as it went down. The chocolate helped to ease the tears running down his face.

"I would really… like to stay friends with him at least," Lloyd sighed. "If something was to go wrong with Dolly… I would still like to call him my friend."

"Sir, I've already got the house cleaned up. If you would like, I can get some clothes for you to change into and call Zelos over. I'm sure he would be happy to see you," Sebastian smiled. "And if you would like to just stay over without him here, I can still get you a different change of clothes. I'm sure anything is better than the rainbow-frilled dress you're wearing now."

"You know, I think you're absolutely right," Lloyd finally smiled. "You… don't think it would be a problem do you?"

"Clothes? That's not a problem at all sir."

"I mean, uh… calling Zelos?" Lloyd asked bashfully. "I don't want to call him away from something if he's too busy."

"I'm certain with what he's doing, it'll be fine to call him away from it," Sebastian smiled. "I shall get you some clothes from Master Zelos's closet so you can have something to wear. And I wouldn't worry about wearing them either. I'm positive Zelos was planning on you wearing something from inside his closet sometime this Friday." Sebastian was about to go upstairs to grab the outfit when he remembered something. "Oh, do you have the ring that he slipped to you yesterday?"

Nodding, Lloyd carefully pulled the gold band out of his pocket and placed it back on his right ring finger. A small, melancholic smile slid onto the butler's face as he saw how Lloyd's face immediately lightened up at the small token.

"After I call him, you'll have about fifteen minutes to get back to your normal self. If you need a shower before he gets here, I'm sure he wouldn't mind letting you use his shower," Sebastian suggested. "Just leave the dress and shoes and such outside the door and I'll swap them out with the clothes Zelos had chosen out for you."

"You're… too kind, Sebastian," Lloyd laughed. "I'll take that shower."

"Finish you're hot chocolate first. I'll be sure to call after you're done with it. It's best to drink it while it's hot you know," Sebastian smiled, getting up from his seat to gather Lloyd's outfit. "Just let me know when you're done."

Sebastian left the kitchen, so Lloyd continued to finish off his warm chocolate drink. The thought of hanging out with Zelos as himself was enough to make the slight bad mood disappear.

"_Why do I feel so jealous of someone who isn't even real? Someone who I made up and play the role as?_" Lloyd thought to himself, swallowing a marshmallow.

-As Lloyd was in the shower…-

"I'm home Sebastian! What was so urgent that you called me back over?" Zelos called out, looking around for the butler. He was almost immediately greeted from the upstairs guest bedroom. "Is the… shower running?"

"Ah, yes, Sir Bud decided to come over after Dolly couldn't make it today," Sebastian said. "He had a bit of an accident with his outfit before he got here, so I grabbed the one you pulled together for him for this Friday. Sir, are you okay?"

"He's… in my shower," Zelos muttered, dropping the two bags he was carrying into the house and started up the stairs.

"Uh, sir, I would advise against what you're thinking of doing," Sebastian chuckled. "I'm sure it wouldn't be wise to jump in on him as soon as he got out of the shower, and especially before he got out."

A grin slid onto the redhead's face as he thought of the possible scenarios that would play out if he had done that. He could see the adorable flustered look on the brunet's face as he would walk in, and the boy would fumble around and not exactly knowing what to do. And Zelos would just watch in amusement as Lloyd continued to blush and frantically flail around.

"I won't go in, Sebastian. I'll just be sure to greet him when he's done and dressed," Zelos smiled.

"If you say so, sir," Sebastian said, bowing to the redhead as he walked up the stairs. "Try not to scare him away."

As soon as he got into his room, Zelos closed his door and jumped down onto his bed as he heard the water from the shower splashing around past his bathroom door. He imagined how Lloyd would come out of the bathroom, sopping wet in the outfit he'd chosen for the boy. He imagined how his hair would droop down into his face and stick to his cheeks.

"_Why don't you just come out already Lloyd, so I can at least look at you?_" Zelos groaned, pulling at his hair some. "_Just come out so I can molest you as much as I can with my eyes, you cute little thing._"

It was another few minutes before the water shut off and Zelos sat up in his bed. He quickly and quietly got off to stand by the door to greet Lloyd as soon as he exited the bathroom. Zelos could hear the boy sighing in content after his warm shower and moving about to gather his towel to dry off. It wasn't long before Lloyd's footsteps could be heard coming towards the door. Once the doorknob jiggled, Zelos felt his heartbeat speed up as the door peeked open.

As soon as his eyes landed on Lloyd though, he felt his body heat up. Lloyd only had a towel around his waist and the water in his hair. Brown eyes looked up to meet up with slim blue, and a heavy silence fell over the two as they stared at each other. As each second passed, Lloyd's face became redder and redder. He was bout to turn away and hide behind the door, but Zelos made a grab at the boy's right hand.

"The… the ring. It looks very nice on you," Zelos stammered.

"Z-Z-Zelos, I-I need to—"

"And your hair looks so… soft…" Zelos made a reach for the wet hair and ended up cupping his hand to the younger boy's cheek. "You're… you're so…"

Zelos leaned down and let their foreheads touch gently against each other. He rubbed his thumb against the smaller boy's cheek and let go of the hand he'd been holding onto to gently grasp at the brown hair behind Lloyd's neck. He could feel Lloyd tense up at the touch, and he loosened the grip on the boy's hair.

"I need t-to get d-dressed, Zelos," Lloyd said, not making too much of an attempt to pull away.

"… Yeah, you… do…"

Not really wanting to, Zelos released Lloyd so he could walk back into the bathroom. Once back in, Lloyd closed the door and slid down to the floor and ran his hand through his hair nervously.

"_Was he… Was he trying to… No, it's not possible,_" Lloyd thought. "_I need to get dressed._"

As he waited for the brunet to reemerge from the bathroom, he leaned against the wall next to the door trying to think of something to say to explain himself as Lloyd came out again. He considered actually admitting to liking the boy, but he threw that to the side. It wasn't time to admit to that yet.

But before he could think of something rational, Lloyd came from the bathroom once more, this time fully clothed. His hair was still fairly damp, which still had Zelos staring in admiration at the boy. Lloyd managed to muster up a small smile and a wave up to the redhead.

"Sorry about calling you from what you were doing. I… I figured I would come over to see what was going on," Lloyd said, walking past Zelos to sit on the bed. "Are you…?"

Zelos walked over to Lloyd and nudged the boy to lay his back on the bed. He pinned Lloyd's shoulders down with his hands. Lloyd's face turned bright red as Zelos sternly looked down into Lloyd's eyes. Feeling embarrassed about the situation he'd been placed in, he looked down and away from the blue eyes staring down at him.

"No," Zelos said quietly, and coming in closer to Lloyd's face and pulled it back over to face him again. "You're not allowed to look away from me anymore."

"Bu-but I—"

"I just want to look at you," Zelos smiled. "You're eyes are so nice to look at when you're actually looking at me."

Silence fell over the two as they simply stared at each other. A gentle smile was on Zelos's face as he looked into the boy's eyes. He loved the heavy blush that colored Lloyd's cheeks. He knew that he could stare at the boy for hours and hours on end, simply looking at him in admiration.

The longer he stared though, the more he was tempted to swoop down and kiss the boy underneath him, but he was afraid that if he moved too fast while Lloyd was sober, he would come to regret the decision. He liked Lloyd too much to scare him away for good. Zelos had determined that it would take more than kissing to really get his attention, and Zelos was more than happy to actually take his time with the boy, as much as he truly ached for the boy to be his and his alone.

"You really do have nice eyes," Zelos smiled, pulling himself off the burnet at long last. "Come on, Lloyd. I wanna show you something. Oh! And I've been meaning to ask, how's the outfit I chose out for you?"

Lloyd was too embarrassed to answer the question with words, so he just nodded his head up and down. That made Zelos grin proudly at what he'd accomplished. He figured it would be quite a sight to see when he admitted to being the person who'd really stolen his first kiss. He couldn't imagine a scenario without Lloyd blushing bright red and stammering out his next few sentences.

"Well, come on, Bud," Zelos smiled, grabbing Lloyd's hand to pull him off the bed. Zelos paused to look at Lloyd's hands. "Why do you wear gloves so much?"

"Ah, u-uhm, I guess I like how they feel on my hands," Lloyd said, putting his hands into his pocket.

Lloyd really didn't want Zelos to grab at his hand and possibly pull a glove off to find any familiar marks or injuries. The hickey was only just starting to fade away, and he was sure it wouldn't be long before the bite marks were gone entirely, but Lloyd wasn't too keen on showing off his hands to the redhead until they were completely gone.

"Oh, well, I just remembered that you wore some gloves into the pool yesterday and I thought it was strange. I was starting to think it was some sort of fashion statement or fetish of some sort," Zelos said shrugging. "Whatever makes you happy I suppose. Oh! Or maybe you wear them because—"

"No! I just like wearing them," Lloyd said quickly. "There's no other reason. At all. Ever."

"You're not very convincing, Bud," Zelos chuckled. "It's not important though. Give me at least one of your hands. I still want to show you that thing I said I wanted to show you like thirty seconds ago."

Without allowing Lloyd to say anything else, Zelos once again grabbed the brunet's hand and pulled him out of the room and down the stairs. Zelos squeezed the gloved hand, wanting to lace his fingers with it. He was curious to how the hand felt without the glove at all. He could only imagine it to be the softest thing he'd ever felt on another person, other than Lloyd's neck of course.

"_No wait, it has to be his lips. Why am I making myself wait so long to just…_" Zelos paused his thoughts to look back at the boy he was thinking of. Lloyd looked back up at him, a perplexed look on his face. "_Wait, why AM I waiting? I'm pretty sure that I like him more than any girl I've ever liked, even more than Dolly… Oh, that's right… Dolly._"

Having forgotten completely that Lloyd was already dating someone, Zelos sighed and turned back away from Lloyd, who was just as confused about the sudden pause before Zelos had turned back away from him. Zelos wanted badly to just admit how he felt for Lloyd, just to make sure he wouldn't try to ravish the boy unexpectedly where he stood at any random point in the day. He knew that if he at least admitted to it, there were one of three things that would happen so his need would be sated.

On was that Lloyd would be so shocked that he wouldn't know what to do, and Zelos would be given a chance to woo hi him, which he wouldn't have minded doing if it came down to it. He believed Lloyd was worth it. The second outcome was that it would go extremely well and Lloyd would let Dolly go to be with him. Zelos saw that as both good and bad though. Good, because he could finally satisfy his want of Lloyd, but bad because that would me he would be forcing Lloyd into betraying Dolly. He knew Dolly was too kind hearted to just abandon and take it lightly as if it were nothing. The girl would be upset for days, possibly weeks on end because the love of her life had left her behind for some player of a guy. Zelos mentally sighed.

And then there was the final scenario, which involved Lloyd completely rejecting him. If that were to happen, Lloyd would more than likely make it a point to completely avoid Zelos all together. As much as Zelos didn't want that to happen, he knew it would at least put his mind to ease and the longing feeling he held for the brunet would be gone. Zelos was quick to forget if it needed to be done for his own wellbeing.

"Zelos," Lloyd suddenly spoke, spooking the red haired man from his thoughts. Blue eyes turned to meet brown in question. "Do you, perhaps, I don't know, like someone?"

The question had caught Zelos off guard.

"What?" Zelos asked.

"…What do you mean 'what'?" Lloyd frowned. "I asked you if you like someone. Like, you like them enough to want to date them or go out with them. Like boyfriend and girlfriend. Something along those lines."

"Now that you mention it, there IS someone I've considered telling that I like…," Zelos said, slapping a cocky grin on. "I doubt they would really understand or have an answer that I want to hear right now though."

"I don't understand. People know whether they like each other or not, don't they?" Lloyd asked, tilting his head to the side. "So you haven't told her anything at all?"

Zelos laughed some when he heard the word 'her'. What would Lloyd think of him if he told him that he had really liked a boy, and it was Lloyd no less? What would he say? How would he react?

"No, I haven't," Zelos answered, looking at Lloyd with gentle eyes. "I may soon though, since it's kinda hard not to say anything about it. For now though, I'm not too worried about it. I kind of like how things are going right now."

Lloyd pouted, not wanting to hear that kind of answer.

"Oh, come on, is it because she's already taken or something?" Lloyd asked, nudging at Zelos's shoulder with his free hand.

"Yeah, that's part of the reason," Zelos said, patting Lloyd's head. "Bud, what brought this up all of a sudden anyways? When were you so interested in the people that I liked?"

"I don't know." Lloyd blushed, starting to think that it was Dolly Zelos was so infatuated with. "I think it would be cool if you could be happy with someone in a… serious kind of relationship."

A small, more genuine grin slid onto Zelos's face. He had always thought happiness to be superficial, something that wasn't for him and that he would never truly deserve in sharing with someone. But here was Lloyd, sweet, innocent little Lloyd, wishing in his own little way for Zelos to be happy with someone. It had been a long time since someone other than Sebastian had truly wanted him to be happy.

"Hey, Bud?" Zelos said softly, earning a questioning look from the smaller boy. "I don't need a serious relationship to be happy. I've already got you as my friend. I couldn't ask for anything more."

Lloyd paused, looking like he had something to say, but didn't exactly know how to go about saying it. Now it was Zelos's turn to tilt his head in confusion.

"What's the matter, Bud?" Zelos asked, genuinely concerned about the conflicting look Lloyd was wearing. "That look doesn't really suit you."

"It's just…" Lloyd stopped completely, tears starting to fall from his eyes.

Zelos's eyes widened at the sudden action. He immediately released Lloyd's hand and wrapped his arms around Lloyd in a hug, not knowing what else to do. If there had ever been a girl crying in front of him, he would turn her away and act like nothing had happened, and since he didn't want to do that to Lloyd, he couldn't think of anything else to do other than hug him. Words of comfort weren't Zelos's strong suit, so he was hesitant on saying much of anything.

So instead of using words right then and there, he nuzzled Lloyd closer to him and started to rub at the boys back in an attempt to calm him down. He let Lloyd grab him around the waist and grip at the back of Zelos's shirt as he quietly cried into Zelos's chest. Zelos then ran his hands through Lloyd's hair, hoping it would help relax him.

"_I'm so stupid,_" Lloyd thought to himself. "_He says he's happy with me, but he only wants to have Dolly. Maybe… I should just…_"

"What in the world is wrong, Bud?" Zelos asked as gently as he could.

For a while, silence was Lloyd's answer, but as he fought with himself on what to say, Lloyd looked up to Zelos. Several times, he opened his mouth, thinking he'd put together the proper sentence, but he'd immediately shut it. Zelos patiently waited for whatever Lloyd had to say. At long last, Lloyd finally came up with something to say, hoping that it would satisfy Zelos.

"Dolly and I…" Lloyd stopped, regretting that he'd let the words slip out of his mouth. At this point though, he saw no turning back. "We… We aren't together anymore…"

Zelos's eyes widened at those few words. This meant that he was free to tell Lloyd how he felt without any consequence. He placed his hands on Lloyd's shoulders and looked down at him, feeling determined about what he wanted to say to him. But before Zelos could so much as get a word out, Lloyd continued on.

"She's been distracted. I've seen that look before once before in her eyes…" Lloyd looked up to Zelos. "I think it's you."

The confession Zelos had wanted to make had completely disappeared. In all honesty, he didn't know what to say. Zelos fell to his knees, dragging his hands down from Lloyd's shoulders and let them lay at his sides.

"I'm… I'm so sorry…," Zelos said in a whisper.

"It… would probably… be a good idea if we didn't see each other after this." Zelos's eyes snapped up to Lloyd's in a panic, but Lloyd was looking at the ceiling as he spoke, so he didn't notice. "I'm pretty sure that you like her too. It wouldn't be right for me… to interfere. If you want, you can drop me off at my house tonight again. I wouldn't mind that…"

"No…," Zelos said quietly. "That's not good enough."

"Zelos, I don't understand. What's not good enough?" Lloyd asked.

Sebastian walked into the room they'd been standing in for a while, just listening to the two talk. He could see Lloyd had confused how Zelos felt and it wasn't unfolding too nicely. But at this point, Sebastian felt he had no right to interfere. Zelos would either make a decision now, or regret never making one.

"It's just not good enough!" Zelos yelled, standing up once more. He looked down to Lloyd, a sad anger in his eyes. "It's not! You're my friend. I'm not going to let you leave me!"

"Zelos…"

"Don't look at me like that… Don't look at me like you're going to leave me forever. You're not leaving me. I won't let you!" Zelos yelled, tightly hugging Lloyd. "You… you have to stay. I don't want her… You… You're all I need. Please… Please believe me Lloyd."

Lloyd let the redhead hold him. Lloyd felt comforted in his arms, even if Zelos was yelling at him. The brunet wrapped his arms back around Zelos and grabbed at the shirt he was wearing. All he wanted was to make Zelos happy. He thought that if he allowed Dolly to date him, he would have all the happiness he needed. Lloyd distinctly remembered the looks Zelos would give to him when he was dressed up. He'd seen the same look on his old friend Genis when he'd met Presea. He remembered Genis abandoning him when he knew Presea was around, even after they'd made plans far ahead of time. Lloyd didn't want to suffer the loneliness of Zelos wanting to see Dolly instead of him again.

"I'm sure you'll be happy with her," Lloyd smiled. "She—"

"I stole your first kiss."

"What?" Lloyd asked, thinking he'd heard the redhead wrong.

Instead of reiterating what he'd said though, Zelos pushed Lloyd down to a nearby chair and pinned his arms down to make sure he didn't get up. Zelos stared straight into Lloyd's eyes as he pressed their noses together. A faint blush came to Lloyd's cheeks as he felt Zelos's hot breath tickling his lips. The intense stare wasn't helping him at all. It was almost if Zelos was teasing him by getting so close.

But the teasing thought slowly slipped away as Zelos closed the space between their faces and kissed him. Lloyd made a small moan that was muffled by the simple kiss. He tried to say something to Zelos, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Zelos saw it as an opportunity to take another taste of the sweet mouth he'd been longing for. He tasted chocolate this time, which made the redhead make a quick but gentle grab at the back of Lloyd's neck to pull him in closer for a better taste.

This time though, instead of going along with it, Lloyd pushed Zelos away. Zelos had immediately regretted his decision as soon as he saw Lloyd's face. Instead of anger, or happiness, there was a look of sadness and fear on his face. The redhead hadn't expected that reaction.

"I'm sorry," Zelos apologized, pulling away from the trembling boy. "I shouldn't have pushed myself on you. You don't deserve that. I just… want you to believe me. I like you a lot, Lloyd. I don't want you to leave me like my father did…"

Zelos felt his hand being grabbed at, which made him look back to Lloyd. He pulled Zelos's hand against his face so he could nuzzle into it. Noticing what the boy wanted, Zelos knelt down in front of him and encased Lloyd's face into his hands and touched their foreheads together as tenderly as he could. He rubbed his thumbs gently across the boy's cheeks as he nuzzled their noses together.

"Don't ever leave me," Zelos whispered. Zelos looked into Lloyd's eyes, a very light blush on his face. "Could… could I kiss you again? I won't be so rough this time. I promise."

Without so much as another word, Lloyd himself leaned in and closed the gap, surprising Zelos a bit. It didn't take him too long to relax however as he smiled into the innocent kiss.

"You're so cute," Zelos smiled. This earned a blush from Lloyd. "Especially when you blush."

"Sh-shut up," Lloyd stammered, hiding his face behind his hands.

"Aw, don't hide, hunnie," Zelos grinned.

The pet name made Lloyd peek through his fingers. Zelos could see that Lloyd was trying his best to glare at him, which only made him grin even wider. He found the look to be absolutely adorable.

"Come on, hunnie, show me your lovely face," Zelos said, pulling Lloyd's hands away from his face. "Show me that cute little blush."

As soon as Lloyd's hands were pulled away, Zelos couldn't hold back the smile on his face, but it was soon wiped away when Lloyd brought their heads together in a head butt. Zelos fell over backwards, stunned at the action.

"I'm not one of your girls," Lloyd frowned.

Zelos grabbed at Lloyd's leg as he pulled himself back up, glaring back at Lloyd. He made a small squeeze at the leg, making Lloyd let out a yelp and a reflex kick at Zelos's chest. Zelos wheezed, having had the wind knocked out of him and fell back to the floor, but not before he grabbed at Lloyd's shirt and pulled him down with him. Lloyd ended up falling on his back and Zelos crawled over him, coughing once or twice.

"Well, what do you propose that I call you then, Bud?" Zelos said, grinning through his glare.

"Bud is fine," Lloyd said, poking a finger at Zelos's face. "Not hunnie though. I'm not your hunnie."

"You're my Bud then~?" Zelos grinned, smacking the hand away and pinning it to the ground as he crawled over Lloyd and sat on top of his torso. "As long as you're mine, I'm fine with whatever I call you."

A bright red blush spread over Lloyd's cheeks as the word's "You're mine" echoed through his head. It wasn't too bad of a thought the more it ran through his mind. Soon, a small smile slid onto the boy's face, and Zelos was quick to notice.

"So, Bud, you wanna go out with me?" Zelos asked.

"I-I-I, uh…" The blush on his face had gone all the way to his ears at this point. "Y-yeah."

"Good. That's just the answer that I was looking for my dear," Zelos smiled, swooping down and stealing another kiss.

THE END!

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JUST KIDDING :'D  
Please don't hurt me too bad!

-End of Chapter 8-

Jazzimonster :: -grabz banANNU by the shirt and shakez back and forth- THIS HAD BETTER NOT BE THE FUCKING END!

banANNU :: I said I was kidding Dx I've got lots more planned out for these two! You know I can't end a story with out the "L" word at the very least!

Jazzimonster :: Hrm… that is true. Well, there had better be some HAWT make out scenes at the very least in the next few chapters!

banANNU :: There will be ^^; So anyways, I want to apologize to you guys about not posting this chapter last Saturday. I ended up having to go to a funeral and so I kind of laid off on writing out of respect. =\ I don't want to go to one of those ever again. Everyone just needs to live forever, understood! That means you wonderful fans of mine I've come to love so very much! ESPECIALLY YOU JAZZ!

Jazzimonster :: Will do.

banANNU :: Well, I hope that you guys like it :3 Don't forget to review~ I was soooo happy at the number of reviews I received for the last chapter :O I felt so very loved~ Thank you all so much! Don't forget, if you do review, I'll respond to it in the next chapter :D I'm thinking the one after the next chapter may have some MA content in it, so be prepared to copy and paste a link to the page with the story on it :3

Jazzimonster :: FUCK YES! *victorious fist pump* FINALLY!

banANNU :: I look forward to seeing your reviews for the chapter in the coming week :3 I LOVE YOU ALL VERY DEARLY~ YOU'RE ALL SUPER FRIKKIN TASTIC! JUST SO YOU KNOW IF YOU DIDN'T ALREADY :'D

Review of the week! (well, since I didn't post last Saturday, of the past two weeks really)

Crazy-Franky101 ::  
Oh my gos One of my wonderful reviewers loves me. *huggles teh awesome reviewer and gives a cookie of friendship* I love you tooooo~  
I'm so glad that you like my story~ It's kind of taken some turns that I didn't expect for it to when I first started writing it, but I'm definitely glad that I kept it going (after three years e.e;;;) And the whole Kruan thing kind of came up because I looked at a random story to see some experimental pairings and ended up absolutely loving it! I'm glad I was able to please someone by writing for a pairing I've never written for before! Heh, poor Sheena though. Having to watch someone she's loved for so long go off to someone she doesn't know what to think of. Oh well, at least we know she'll support him no matter what. Heh… silly Mithos. Yuan's gunna kick his butt one of these chapters and it's going to be so worth it. X3  
I'm quite proud of myself for keeping this story going. I'm sure Jazz would've killed me if I didn't xD Not that she's really all that violent though. And don't worry about uber long reviews :D I love reading long reviews in all honesty! As you can see, I have long responses x3 So all is good. I can't wait to get the next chapter posted. Yuan will have some time to shine in the next chapter and it's going to be super frikkin awesome ;D  
And don't worry, the smut will be soon… hurr… hurr, hurr, hurr. And I am super sorry about not posting last Saturday. Like I said, I had a funeral to go to… so I didn't write all too much that week and this past week. But from now on, I'm going to keep up with my stories! I look forward to seeing your reviews for the upcoming chapters :D Just because they're together doesn't mean it's over! Thank you so much for reviewing! Le ciao~


	9. Chaptero nueve

Title :: The New Job

Written By :: banANNU

Rated :: M

-Review responses to my favorite people :D The reviewers! I frikkin adore you all to the ends of the earth and far beyond!-

amikaze ::  
YAY! I'm so glad that you liked it! :'D I'm going to have to agree with you on Zelos… -w- He's got more plans for Lloyd later on, I guarantee you that (and I'm going to have to look up that song o3o seeing as that I want to see the similiarities). And believe me when I say there is much more fluff to come. *evil laughter* I love being fluffy x'''D It'll be a while before we see Kratos's reaction though. The chapter that it happens is going to be rather… dramatic. *sweatdropz* We'll see Yuan's reaction though :DDD YAY! Mithos will not be here this chapter however. I think the Kratos/Yuan relationship for this chapter needed the violence break xD We will be seeing him though rather soon. I'm so glad to have an awesome follower like you :'D *huggles and gives a cookie*  
And it's fine. It was just a very awkward thing to attend since the girl that died was only seven… But thank you for your concern.

Mizu Hoseki ::  
*petz Muffins* e u e He's so awesome! And if you make any muffins, I call dibs on having the first one from the batch :'D I love muffins! XD Poor game Yuan, lulz. At least my Yuan has some style xDDD derp. There will be more shiny new accessories to come by the way ;D *devious laughter ensuez*  
I like to think of Yuan as more of a big sister. Rotflmao xD He's always poking his nose where it isn't needed and is a bit defensive when it comes to Lloyd x3 And Kratos misses out on a lot of stuff. He seems to be distracted with something… or someone else. Oh ho ho ho~  
Oh, and I've decided that instead of describing the dress in the story, I'm going to draw it out… x3 Lloyd is so gunna kill me for that. And yes. The dress needs to be burned. X_X It's… it's an abomination of sorts AND MUST BE DESTROYED! :'D  
I can't get over how awesome your reviews are xD They make me smile and laugh every time I get to read them! OH MY GOSH, I DEFINITELY WANT SOME COPIES OF THE PICTURES :Q,,,  
*lookz over to Kratos* Yo… *hidez behind Mizu* Nothing suspicious going on here.  
Kratos :: *takez peanutmallow and walkz away*  
Whew! I can't wait to see your thoughts on this chapter! :D You're so flippin awesome!

ZaphiraX ::  
x3 hurr, I'm glad that you liked it. And now that you mention it, I am trying to cut back on the major swearwords. X_X They can be rather unbecoming, and I do thank you sincerely for mentioning that. I have been around a family that uses those kinds of words quite a bit though, so it kind of rubbed off into the story. OTL I apologize! I hope you like the next chapter though :'D

Aittla ::  
I'm so happy that you liked the fluffiness! I think that's my favorite kind of thing to write to be honest. :3 And sorry about the who "The End" thing xD I kinda felt like goofing off (which happens a lot). I hope you like this chapter! :'D Maybe I'll see a review from you later? If not, I still offer you a cookie of friendship *givez cookie*

KrypticKrow ::  
AWWWWW *huggles* You're so flippin' cute! *givez a cookie of friendship* :'D I hope I didn't scare you away from reviewing ever again by doing that x'3 I just can't help myself sometimes. I'm so very happy that you like my story so much that you've followed it since the first chapter :'D It helps me to keep on writing when I hear (…see rather…) reviews like that. X3 hope you like the chapter! It's been waiting for you to read it all week :'D

-Review to see your response in the next chapter!-

Disclaimer ::

banANNU :: I've been holding back for almost a week on posting this. *twitchez* It's so hard to post on a set date when I've finished five days ahead of schedule.

Jazzimonster :: It just means that you'll actually be able to post when you say you're going to post. And oh my bajeezus, you have such long answers to your reviews!

banANNU :: ^^; What can I say? I love each and every one of them so much, I can't help but replying to everything I can in each of their reviews! You should review too :O

Jazzimonster :: But you already know what I think… I read them and tell you…

banANNU :: …I like my reviews though xC

Jazzimonster :: You review whore…

banANNU :: I CAN STOP ASKING FOR THEM WHENEVER I WANT TOO! I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM! *twitchez*

Jazzimonster :: Riiiight… speaking of problems, where is everyone? Usually one or two characters comes in here for something.

banANNU :: I dunno. I'm just glad that I haven't been killed yet.

*banging noises*

banANNU :: WTFudge was that?

Pervert burglar :: WHY HAVEN'T YOU INCLUDED ME IN THIS STORY? I HAVE AN IMPORTANT ROLE WOMAN! DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME DAMMIT!

Jazzimonster :: *pullz out Pookie* Hey, can you do the disclaimer?

Pervert burglar :: … *starez at Jazzimonster's flamethrower* … banANNU doesn't own any characters from ToS… Uhm, she only owns the ones that she made up… Can you include me in your story now? I'm kinda lonely.

banANNU :: You'll only be mentioned now because you yelled at me. Go to your corner of shame. *turnz to readerz* Don't mind him. He's just unhappy because Kratos hates him. Enjoy the story!

Pervert burglar :: BUT I LOVE YOU KRATOS!

Kratos :: *leapz in the room and K.O.s the pervert burglar*

-ENJOY-

-Chaptero Nueve…O-  
ke, ke, ke

"That wasn't funny Zelos," Lloyd grumbled, punching at his boyfriend's shoulder. Zelos only grinned his trademark grin as he dragged Lloyd to the kitchen. "Seriously, stop smiling. That's so embarrassing knowing that he was watching the entire time."

"Don't worry about it. Sebastian won't breathe a word of it to anyone. I've already told you, he's sworn to secrecy unless I say so. But anyways, remember how I said I wanted to show you something?" Lloyd nodded his head without a word. He was still bright red from when he realized Sebastian had been standing not but a few feet away from them, watching the two as they kissed on the floor. "Don't be so stingy, hunny." That earned him a fiercer jab in the shoulder. "Heh, anyways, so I was out shopping for some food when I saw this awesome thing. As soon as I saw it, I thought of you." Lloyd's eyes brightened up some. "So, I bought it. BUT, you're not getting it until you give me just one more little, itsy bitsy, teeny weeny kiss."

Having gone absolutely scarlet at the request, Lloyd quickly stood on his tiptoes and planted a chaste kiss on Zelos's cheek. That didn't seem to satisfy the redhead though. Zelos wagged his finger at the boy and then pointed his finger to his lips and then to Lloyd's. Lloyd looked like he was about to back away from the offer of seeing what Zelos had gotten for him, but Zelos spoke up before he allowed the adorable brunet to back out.

"Look, if you give me this little kiss, it doesn't have to be any more than a second, I'll… throw in a little something extra," Zelos smiled. Lloyd was having a mental war, one side saying to just go for it and get two gifts, and the other telling him it was a trap. "I promise it'll be worth it."

After a few more seconds of mental debate, Lloyd grabbed at Zelos's shirt and pulled him down to place a kiss on Zelos's lips. Deciding to be a just a little devious about the situation, Zelos swiftly flicked his tongue at the younger boy's lips. He loved the sweet chocolate taste that Lloyd had on him. He hoped that every kiss would be candy flavored since it gave Lloyd a more unique taste.

"Absolutely delectable." Lloyd blushed bright red once again, stepping on Zelos's foot for the unnecessary comment. "You're so cute when you're mad, hunny." Another glare. Zelos figured he should lay off on that particular nickname for a while. "Well, as I promised, I'll give you your gift. But you have to close your eyes and hold out your hands, otherwise, I'm going to keep it. Oh, and you have to let me hold your hand at school in the mornings."

"Wh-what? But everyone will see—"

"And I'm not afraid to let them see. That high school is full of judgmental snobs, so let them have their fun. It's not like they're going to actually do anything. All they do is hide behind someone bigger than them if something happens. You really shouldn't be too afraid of them, okay Bud? And if something does happen, I'll protect you," Zelos smiled, kissing Lloyd's forehead. "Let them talk. I won't let anything come between us."

"Zelos… I'm not as worried about the people at school. I'm worried about my dad finding out," Lloyd nearly whimpered. "He didn't really care if I went on about girls or anything, but I'm positive that he's not going to like the idea that I'm… dating you."

Letting the word "dating" echo a few times, the nervousness about his dad finding out slowly subsided, and a giggly school girl feeling started to bubble in his chest. He was actually dating someone. And according to Sheena, he was dating someone who didn't go on dates with people because he didn't care about them. That had to be a good accomplishment, right?

"Oh crap…," Lloyd said, nervousness immediately returning.

"What is it, Bud?" Zelos asked, poking at the boy's cheek. "Don't forget I've got to show you something."

"Sheena is going to kill me," Lloyd groaned.

"I doubt that. First of all, I'll protect you. Second of all, you two are childhood friends. She wouldn't lay a finger on you. At least I'm pretty sure she wouldn't. The longer I look at that face, the more I doubt myself," Zelos said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Okay, to your first of all, I'm pretty sure she doesn't like you enough as a friend yet to be bothered by killing you off first if you stood in the way of me and her. She's not exactly nice when she has something she needs to say and something or someone is stopping her from doing so. And to your second of all, killing me would be merciful compared to all the other things she COULD do. Believe me. When you've known her as long as I have, you can kind of predict what's going to happen," Lloyd sighed. "Do I still have to hold your hand in the morning? Couldn't we plan to meet up before other classes and do that?"

"But the morning is special," Zelos pouted. "I can't wake up to see your adorable sleepy face in the morning, so I want to at least do something special with you in the morning. Now if you want a good morning kiss, I could go for that."

Not even willing to consider that option, Lloyd placed his whole hand over Zelos's face and pushed him backwards a few steps. Out of no where, Lloyd felt a sharp pain on his pinky, which resulted in him pulling his hand back to reveal a grinning Zelos. Zelos had playfully bitten Lloyd's finger.

"That hurt!" Lloyd pouted.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Bud. Give it to me so I can kiss it and make it feel better," Zelos winked, grabbing at Lloyd's hand. Lloyd hid his hands behind his back and stuck his tongue out at Zelos. "Fine, at least give me your other hand and close your eyes. I'm tired of waiting to give you your gift."

Giving his boyfriend one last glare, Lloyd shut his eyes tight and held out his right hand. He could hear a bag rustling as Zelos hummed a random tune. The off key notes made Lloyd smile some, but when he heard it stop, he made the smile disappear, just in case Zelos had seen him. It was then that he felt a small box shaped item fall into his hand. It was small enough that he could grasp it in his fingers, and when he did, he peeked one eye open to see what it was.

At first glance, it was just a small box, similar to a ring box, so Lloyd immediately thought it was more jewelry. A faint tinge of pink appeared on Lloyd's cheeks as he looked up to Zelos and then back to the box. Zelos simply grinned and walked over behind Lloyd to droop his arms over his shoulders in a hug.

"Well go on. Open it," Zelos demanded. "It's not going to open itself, no matter how cute or adorable you are."

Lloyd frowned at those words, but he quickly brushed them off to open the small ring box. Instead of seeing sparkling jewelry though, he saw an empty black box. He was going to turn around to look at Zelos and ask what all that was about, but he felt the redhead wrapping something fairly delicate around his neck. Lloyd froze in place until Zelos was done.

"I remembered you saying something about you having done some sword practice…" Zelos grabbed at the necklace that he'd put around Lloyd's neck. He held the charm that was on the chain in the palm of his hand so Lloyd could get a better look at it. "And you sounded like you liked that ring a lot when I told you about it on the phone…"

On a thin golden chain was a pendant in the shape of a pair of crossed silver swords. Lloyd reached for the pendant to hold it in his own hands to get a better look at it, and Zelos quickly closed his hands around the swords. That got Lloyd to pout and turn around to face Zelos.

As soon as Zelos could see him, he just smiled and leaned down for a small kiss. Lloyd wasn't given much of an option other than to give in and kiss Zelos back since Zelos had him in a very secure hug. Lloyd still wasn't quite used to the whole kissing thing yet, but he was certainly starting to like it the more that it happened. He had a feeling Zelos would be as touchy as Lloyd would let him and the kisses would start to grow on him.

"I told you that I was going to give you a little something extra, didn't I?" Zelos smiled, tapping Lloyd's nose with his index finger. "You'll have plenty of time to look at the necklace later. Right now, I just want to look at you…"

"Yeah, well… don't stare too much… You might get tired of me," Lloyd said. "I mean, who wants to look at me all—"

"I do. And let me tell you, I'm never going to get tired of just looking at you."

Lloyd gave a sheepish little smile as the two stared at each other for a good ten minutes before Sebastian came in and announced that he wanted them out of the kitchen so he could clean it. Zelos didn't have too much of an issue with that. He dragged Lloyd out by the hand back up to his bedroom so they could sit on his bed and play some video games. He wouldn't mind having some actual bonding time with his little brunet. Not to mention, there would be lots of opportunities while they were up in his room that he could steal a few more kisses from the boy and maybe get a make out session or two going.

"_Okay, I definitely like him a lot more than just a little bit._"

-At Lloyd's house-  
-A few hours have passed btw-

Yuan had gotten a text from Lloyd that had him a little on edge when he opened it. He knew it was bound to happen sometime, possibly a year or two from then, but he'd only just found out about Lloyd and Zelod holding minor feelings for each other. He couldn't put together how things had escalated so quickly that Lloyd and Zelos were already together. Lloyd and him were definitely going to have to talk.

Of course, he would keep the conversation away from Kratos's prying ears. Kratos would most surely be less forgiving about the whole situation, and then follow up by keeping Lloyd on a very tight leash. Yuan knew full well that that would make Lloyd both very upset and angry, and that was the last thing that Yuan wanted Lloyd to go through. If Kratos ever did find out about the relationship though, Yuan knew that there wouldn't be much that he would be able to do from keeping Kratos from doing as he wanted.

"_I certainly hope you know what you're doing by bringing him over here for dinner, Lloyd,_" Yuan sighed mentally, deleting the text so Kratos wouldn't find it. "_Well, they'll be here soon. It's time to get started on food so Zelos isn't too cranky._"

As Yuan walked down the stairs, he noticed Kratos chilling out on the couch, all curled up under the blankets. Kratos hadn't so much as spoken a word to Yuan for the past day, ever since Mithos had whispered that one thing into his ear. It upset Yuan that Kratos wouldn't budge on telling him what was wrong. Every time Yuan tried to console his friend, he would get up and sit or stand else where. He would still let him sleep on the couch with him, but that was the extent of the contact that they shared though.

Yuan decided whatever it was that was on Kratos's mind needed to come out in the open so that they could talk again. The blunet didn't like being ostracized by the man he loved so dearly. So, as he came down the stairs, he took a small detour before entering the kitchen and sat down on the couch next to the auburn haired man. He could feel Kratos flinch some as he sat down, which resulted Yuan sighing.

"It's not right for you to treat me like this, Kratos," Yuan said softly. "You know that Mithos is going to say whatever he wants to try and keep you away from me."

Kratos was just starting to get up to go into another room, but Yuan was determined to get what needed talking about, talked about. He grabbed the blanket that Kratos had been wrapped up in on two sides and pulled the man back and further wrapped him up in the blanket. Knowing full well that Yuan was stronger than he was, Kratos didn't put up too much of a fight before he let Yuan hug him while he was encased in the blanket.

"I don't care if talking about it is going to make you uncomfortable. I'm not leaving you guys again, not matter what that asshole has to say," Yuan said. "And whatever he said, you know you need to talk to me about it if it had anything to do with me. Judging by how you've clearly been avoiding me, I'm pretty sure it had just about everything to do with me and something important to you. There are always two sides to the story Kratos, and you know that all too well. So please, for the love of Martel, please tell me what he said." Yuan clung to Kratos a little tighter. "I don't want to lose you as my friend. You and Lloyd mean the world to me, and I'm not willing to let what some person has to say about me take you two away from me again."

The two sat in silence for a while as Kratos heaved out a heavy sigh and Yuan hung onto him, making sure Kratos wasn't going to escape. After what seemed like an eternity, Kratos finally spoke up.

"You remember… when Anna died?" Yuan nodded silently, knowing this was a very touchy subject for Kratos. "Well, around that time, you seemed to be… I don't know, around a lot more often. I didn't really put too much thought into at the time. For all I know, you were just around to help comfort Lloyd and I when we needed it most. Anyways, you remember that she was caught in a car accident on her way to work. That's how the media told it. It was a hit and run, and the person was never caught. The police on the scene told me she died instantly. But according to the doctors at the hospital, that wasn't the case. She suffered well after the police were called onto the scene. I'm sure you remember that. I was absolutely furious with them… and that was why I quit the police force and started doing more independent working, only taking assignments that I would be on my own with for the most part."

Yuan could feel Kratos starting to shake in his arms. He remembered receiving the call the day Anna had died. He remembered that Kratos had nearly fallen apart after a year of her absence, but Yuan had made sure that he remembered that Lloyd needed him more than anything then. He remembered the constant screaming, yelling, and breaking of random things when Kratos would go into his fits.

"If you need to cry, there's no reason to hold back. It doesn't make you weak, and it doesn't make you stupid. Everyone needs a release Kratos, and you know crying is the best way to get that release. So cry…," Yuan whispered, nuzzling into Kratos's shoulder.

"He… He said you hated her… He said you… were happy… when she… wh-when she…" But Kratos couldn't find it in himself to finish the sentence before he managed to turn around and cling to Yuan's shirt. "It's not true… It can't be true. You and Anna were such good friends. Why would he say THAT? Of all things, why would he bring her up? Why would he bring something up that he knew was so… painful…?"

But Yuan didn't have anything to say to that. Instead, he just used one arm to hold Kratos and the other to run his hands through his hair. Yuan's thought process had gone blank of everything except his pure hatred of Mithos. To have said something like that to only make Kratos feel pain and avoid him had crossed the line for Yuan. He had warned him that if he hurt Kratos, there would be hell to pay.

As Kratos tried his best to hold back his sobs, Yuan decided it was time to speak up.

"You remember when you introduced me to Anna?" Yuan asked, grabbing Kratos's chin to make sure he was looking at him. "You had kept her secret from Mithos and me for a good few months, and when she found out about that, I remember her hitting you across the head so hard you nearly passed out. She came over to me and hugged me and said 'It's so nice to finally meet you'. I don't think I'd ever met such a spunky, and crazy, but kind-hearted and loving girl in all my life. I remember she had such a quick temper when it came to the smaller things… And you know, I was the first person she told that she was pregnant." Kratos squinted his eyes in disbelief. "Yeah, she said you would have gotten upset with her or something along those lines. Anyways, she came up to me to ask if she should abort it…"

"What?" Kratos exclaimed. "That can't be right! She loved Lloyd with all her heart, even before he was born!"

"You have to let me finish Kratos. As you know, she obviously didn't do that. But she was afraid, and that's why she asked. She was afraid that she wouldn't raise the child with the love it deserved. She was afraid that she was too young of a mom to have a child. She was afraid that her child would hate her, and it made her miserable thinking about all of that." Yuan had released Kratos so he could sit on his own. It appeared that Kratos wasn't going to be getting up any time soon. "By the end of it, she was in tears, and I was trying my best to comfort her as we sat on my couch. So, I told her that from the love I saw in her for you that she would be the perfect mother. She would always complain about something in her life not being there, and she didn't know what it was, and I told her it was the new life you and her were going to bring into this world. And I told her I was jealous that she could have that happiness that only a parent could know while I could never have that. She looked up to me… and with the most innocent smile I'd ever seen her smile… she said she wanted to share her child with you and me… that she didn't want to keep that happiness from anyone." Yuan hid his tears behind a soft smile. "I remember thinking she was the most wonderful woman I'd ever met, so strong-willed and kind. You were so very lucky to have found her and had her in your life for the time she was here, and she was so lucky to have spent her time with someone like you."

There was a sudden knock at the door which made Yuan jump a little, as well as Kratos. Yuan slapped a smile on and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I forgot to tell you… Lloyd is bringing one of his, er, friends over for dinner."

"Sheena? I already know her," Kratos said, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, no, one of his newer guy friends," Yuan said nervously.

"What? Really?" Kratos asked, peeking around Yuan to see the door. "Well go on. Let them in. I wanna see him."

There was another more impatient knock from the door. Kratos shoved at Yuan to get up and answer it, which he reluctantly did. He was mentally praying that Zelos would keep his hands to himself while he was in front of Kratos. Yuan didn't want to have to clean up any messes or bodies and have to help Kratos change his name and so on and so forth. He unlocked the door and opened it to find Zelos giving Lloyd a hug around the waist.

"I wouldn't do that while you're in here, Zelos," Yuan sighed. "I'm sure Lloyd has already told you about how he doesn't want his dad to find out."

"Told you," Lloyd said, sticking his tongue out at the redhead.

"You sound like you're happy about it," Zelos pouted, pulling his hands back from around Lloyd's waist, but not before he slipped him a quick peck on the cheek. Yuan's eye twitched and he quickly looked back at Kratos, who was looking at him impatiently. "What, I thought I'd slip one in if I can't give you any while I'm over here."

"You're lucky it was me that answered the door," Yuan mumbled, stepping out of the doorway to allow the two boys in. "Well, anyways, Kratos, this is Zelos. Zelos, this is Kratos, Lloyd's father."

"Zelos?" Kratos suddenly asked, stepping up from the couch to come and greet the redhead. "As in Zelos Wilder?"

"Do I know you?" Zelos asked.

Both Lloyd and Yuan had just about fainted when Kratos asked that question.

"_Why does he know absolutely everyone that I know?_" Lloyd whined mentally. "_How am I ever going to keep anything a secret from anyone?_"

"Well, it was quite some time ago. You had to only be six or seven at the very oldest," Kratos spoke up. "But I was the one assigned to help find the person who murdered your mother. You haven't changed a bit, except you got taller and your hair got longer. It's strange seeing you after all this time."

Noticing that Lloyd was about to have a nervous break down, Yuan stepped in and pulled Kratos over to the side and into the kitchen. He was a little worried about leaving Zelos alone with Lloyd at this point, but he needed to get Kratos away from Lloyd so that he could gather all the information he could without falling over to the floor and start foaming at the mouth. Kratos seemed to be upset that Yuan had dragged him away from Zelos.

"What's gotten over you all of a sudden?" Kratos frowned, trying to peek back around to see how Zelos and Lloyd had reacted. Yuan however stood in his path. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, uh, I was wondering if you could help me with cooking dinner?" Yuan said.

"Okay, what the hell is wrong with you? You know that I can't cook anything near to how you can," Kratos said, crossing his arms over his chest. There was a sudden yelp over from in the living room. "What was that?"

"MUST HAVE BEEN NOISHE!" Yuan yelled, startling Kratos and Zelos.

"But he's in the backyard…," Kratos trailed off, sounding uncertain.

"It was definitely Noishe. I'd really, really like it if you'd help me make dinner," Yuan said, pushing Kratos further into the kitchen. "Please? I'll go check on them every once in a while. I just kind of want your company."

Giving Yuan a very suspicious look, Kratos gave into the suggestion. It had been quite a while since the two had done some sort of activity together, and Kratos remembered cooking together being the most interesting of his memories.

"Fine, fine… What are we going to cook then?" Kratos asked.

"I'm feeling chicken alfredo. That sound good to you?"

"That's fine. You may want to ask the boys though. I'll get the pots and pans out," Kratos said, nudging Yuan in the direction of the living room. "I think I heard them going upstairs to Lloyd's room."

Yuan made a quick exit, leaving Kratos to look around and grab the utensils he thought they would need for making dinner. As soon as he saw the door was closed to Lloyd's room, Yuan growled something inaudible under his break and stalked up the stairs to swing the door wide open. He half expected to find Zelos molesting his best friend's son, but all he saw was the two holding hands as they sat on Lloyd's bed.

"Ah… So, what the hell was that noise from earlier?" Yuan asked, glaring over at Zelos. The redhead just grinned as a response.

"It was nothing, Yuan," Lloyd spoke up. "I just accidentally tripped over the rug in the living room while I was trying to show Zelos around."

A small blush crept onto Lloyd's cheeks, making Zelos swoon and hug the boy around the neck. Yuan flinched at the sudden action, trying his best to hold back from grabbing Lloyd and locking him up somewhere and beating Zelos down with a pillow very violently. He couldn't help it. The blunet had helped Kratos raise Lloyd for years before he disappeared for a while. The overprotective feeling that came over him was only natural.

"He's just too adorable!" Zelos grinned, sticking his tongue out at Yuan.

Yuan was just about to reach in and strangle Zelos, but Lloyd beat him to the punch. Quite literally. Lloyd had punched Zelos square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. The redhead fell backwards onto the bed and Lloyd got up to turn on the tv in his room.

"I'm NOT adorable," Lloyd growled. "Is there something you wanted Yuan?"

"Chicken alfredo sound good for dinner?" Lloyd gave a happy little nod and Zelos simply raised a thumbs up as his answer, not getting up from the bed. "Great. And Zelos, I'm serious when I say you need to keep your hands to yourself when you're here. I can't guarantee your safety if Kratos walks in on something you didn't mean for him to see."

Grunting was the only response that Yuan received. Satisfied with the answer, the blunet closed the door, hoping he wouldn't come to regret it. He then made his way downstairs to see how far Kratos had gotten on getting everything together. That was when Yuan heard the sound of dropping metal. After rushing in to see what was wrong, Yuan found that Kratos was no where to be seen. Noishe's barking and growling could be heard from outside, more than likely from the pans dropping.

"Kratos? Where did you go?" Yuan called out.

He then saw a small motion at the corner of his eye, so he looked over to see what it was. To Yuan's disbelief, he found Kratos hiding under the dinner table, silently motioning over to Yuan to get under with him. Yuan shook his head, baffled that Kratos was hiding under a table to begin with, and then offered his hand to pull Kratos from his hiding spot. But instead of coming out like Yuan wanted him to, Kratos tugged at Yuan's hand when he grabbed it, Yuan smacked his head into the edge of the table and fell to the floor face first.

"I'm not even sure I really WANT to ask," Yuan groaned, getting to his knees and rubbing at the new cut on his forehead. "But, I'm going to ask anyways. Kratos, what in the WORLD are you doing?"

"I saw something moving around outside," Kratos whispered, tugging at Yuan's shirt and trying to get him under the table with him. "Do you think it was that pervert burglar that's been on the news? Oh my Goddess, he knows I've been assigned to his case… I'M NEXT!"

"…What pervert burglar?" Yuan asked, canting his head to the side.

"You're just as behind as you've ever been," Kratos said, still whispering. "There's a male burglar or whatever, who's been breaking into single guy's homes. He must've heard that I've been assigned to his case, so he's coming after me…"

Yuan started laughing at how paranoid poor Kratos was. Of course, Kratos was none too pleased with the laughter, so he shoved at Yuan's chest, making the blunet fall over. Even after he'd been pushed over though, Yuan was still in a small fit of giggles, which was still agitating to Kratos.

"What's so damn funny?" Kratos said, finally speaking above a whisper.

"Heh, heh, I haven't seen you get so worked up since Lloyd was being born." Kratos pouted at those words. "Besides, it's only single men's houses, right? Well, you've got me and Lloyd here, so you don't have anything to worry about. He'll noticed Lloyd here and automatically think you've got a wife. Most any burglar will stick to their basic routine because it's that routine that's keeping them from getting caught. And even if he decides to stray from that routine, you've got me here, Kratos. You know full well that I will protect you and Lloyd from what or whoever poses a threat to either of you."

"But then you would get hurt…"

"It's fine if I do and it keeps you two safe from any harm," Yuan grinned, ruffling Kratos's hair. "Come on, let's get started on dinner. I'm sure you don't want to keep those two waiting. You know how Lloyd can be when he's hungry… and let me tell you, Zelos isn't too terribly different in that sense."

Kratos wasn't too convinced on coming out from underneath the table, but Yuan wasn't going to have that, so he grabbed Kratos's hand firmly and pulled him out into the open. Yuan brought the auburn haired man into a standing position and ended up falling right into Yuan's arms. The two stood that way for a moment, Kratos too petrified to move while Yuan was happy to be hugging Kratos in his arms. Once Kratos realized what had happened, he started to blush as Yuan grinned.

"You don't have to be afraid while I'm here, Kratos," Yuan smiled, planting a quick kiss on Kratos's forehead. "Time to get dinner started. You… may want to start by cleaning the pots you dropped on the ground. I don't want to use dirty dishes."

Obediently, Kratos picked up the pots from the floor and brought them over to the sink to clean them off. He placed his hand to his forehead as he made a quick glance over to Yuan. The blunet appeared to be distracted, his attention on getting the ingredients he needed out of the fridge. There was a wide, happy-go-lucky grin on the man's face as he pulled out some milk and chicken. A small smile slid onto Kratos's lips as he watched Yuan get everything together. He couldn't help the happy feeling that came over him as Yuan whistled to a random, off-tune song.

As he turned on the faucet, Kratos turned his attention back to the dishes so he wouldn't get caught staring at his friend. Yuan only chuckled himself, knowing full well that Kratos had been watching him. He kept his thoughts to himself however so Kratos could get the pots cleaned.

After a while, after Yuan had assigned Kratos to cooking up the chicken, the silence in the kitchen was starting to get to the redhead. He turned his attention over to Yuan to try and get him to talk again.

"You and Anna were really good friends weren't you?" Kratos asked.

"Yeah, we definitely were," Yuan said, smiling as he mixed his homemade alfredo sauce together. "You probably wouldn't believe how close we'd gotten after you introduced us. I do miss her dearly, Kratos. She was an amazing woman."

"Heh, you make it sound like you two were married instead of me and her," Kratos grinned, absentmindedly poking his spatula at the chicken.

"Oh, goodness no. We may have been close enough as friends, but we certainly weren't compatible fore each other. She and I were much too alike in many ways. Those similarities kept us from liking each other, that's for sure," Yuan laughed.

At one point, Anna had found out about his long-time crush he'd held for her husband. He remembered her taking it much lighter than he thought she would. In fact, a few days afterwards, she'd even offered to let him tell Kratos how he'd felt so it could be out in the open instead of killing him on the inside. Of course, Yuan was much too embarrassed to try and admit to it at the time, much like how he was now. She vowed that one day she'd get him to tell Kratos himself since she respected him too much to say anything without his consent.

_Even if he totally rejects the idea, I'll totally make sure you two stay the close friends you've always been. And who knows? He might just accept it. I won't mind letting you two share an intimate moment or two when I'm not around_, she would tell him, always making sure to give him a suggestive wink.

"_One of these days, I'll tell him for you, Anna,_" Yuan thought to himself.

"Yuan!" Zelos's voice suddenly rang out.

"What?" Yuan exclaimed, snapping away from his reminiscing. "What's the matter?"

"It's not too serious. I just wanted to ask you something. C'mere, c'mere!"

Growling to himself about how Zelos didn't need to sound like the situation was so dire, he walked over to the teenager. Zelos looked around Yuan to Kratos and shook his head, pulling Yuan further out so Kratos couldn't hear what was going on. Yuan frowned at Zelos as he waited for whatever needed to be asked, to be asked.

"What is it?"

"Does Lloyd have a silk fetish?" Zelos asked with a straight face. Yuan just about fell over. "I'm serious, Yuan. He seems to be absolutely obsessed with anything silk that he gets his ands on, no matter what it is. I was kind of wondering if it would be okay if I got him some silk bed sheets and pillow cases and such, or if that would be a bad idea. He always seems to melt right into my bed when he gets the chance to lay or sit down in it, which is why I thought I'd get him some. But then I thought it would be a big hassle to have to clean them if he ever slept in them naked and decided to j—"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT," Yuan said loudly, smacking Zelos upside the back of the head. "And I think that was the last thing I wanted to be asked about Lloyd. I'm pretty sure if the boy has any sort of fetishes, he wouldn't tell a soul, so you can count me out as well as Sheena and Kratos on knowing if he likes silk or not," Yuan scowled. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back in the kitchen before Kratos burns it down."

It seemed Zelos had something more to say or ask, but Yuan dismissed it with a wave of his hand and turned on his heel to disappear into the kitchen. Zelos simply shrugged and walked back up the stairs to hang out with Lloyd some more. He wanted all the cuddle and bonding time that he could get while Lloyd's dad wasn't around to stop it.

Upon walking back into the kitchen, Yuan found that Kratos was still manning the chicken just fine. According to the color, it appeared the chicken was just about done. Yuan smiled proudly at Kratos. The man may not have been known for his cooking when it didn't involve a microwave or sandwiches, but it seemed when Yuan taught him how to make something, he could remember it and get it made just right.

"Hey, Yuan! Look! It's almost done!" Kratos smiled after noticing Yuan had returned to the kitchen.

"Good job," Yuan said, praising the man by ruffling his hair up some. "Hey, have you ever tried flipping food in a pan like that? It's pretty fun."

"Uh, I'll just stick to cooking anything the good old fashioned way. I doubt I'll ever make food in front of people, so there should be no need to get fancy about making it, right?" Kratos said, stirring the chicken up with his spatula.

"Oh, come on. It doesn't matter if you're in front of a crowd of people in a restaurant or all by yourself in your own kitchen making food for yourself, flipping food is so much fun!" Yuan smiled. "Let me show you."

Yuan took the pan away from Kratos and flipped the chicken pieces a few times a few inches into the air. Kratos watched in awe and applauded Yuan once he was done. Once the applauding died down, Yuan handed the pan back over to Kratos so he could try it for himself.

"I can't do that, Yuan. I'm going to end up throwing the chicken absolutely everywhere, and this is all the chicken that we have left," Kratos said, placing the pan back onto the stove top to keep it warm.

"You've got to try it at least once," Yuan said. "I'll even help you if you want me to."

Before Kratos had a chance to decline or ask "how", Yuan snuck up behind the redhead and gently grasped both of his wrists. Yuan then rest his head on Kratos's left shoulder, chuckling at how red the man was turning.

"It's really simple. All you have to do is start by moving the pan like this, then this, sort of like a back and forth motion, and just as you're pushing the pan away from you again, you just—" Yuan tugged at Kratos's in a quick downward then upward motion "—leave it all up to your wrists! Just like that! See, that wasn't so hard now, was it? Kind of fun, huh?" Kratos silently nodded his head up and down in a 'yes', the blush still on his cheeks. "Do you want to try it out for yourself?"

Again, Kratos nodded out his answer, so Yuan slowly backed away from him. It took Kratos a few seconds to muster up the courage to try it, but when he finally did, he flipped the food just fien. Yuan saw a little spark go through Kratos's expression as he did it two more times. A smile then broke across the man's face as he successfully tossed the chicken.

"Yuan, Yuan look! I'm actually doing it!" Kratos smiled back at the blunet.

"I told you it was fun. It's quite an effective way of mixing your food up if you've got a lot of pans on the stove and only one stirring utensil. It makes sure you actually get the food flipped as well as keeping you from cross contaminating anything," Yuan said. He couldn't get enough of the adorable expression Kratos was showing off. "Well, now that you're done with the chicken, I guess I can have you cook up the mushrooms. Is that okay?"

Smiling at the thought of being able to throw some more food around, Kratos nodded in agreement.

-Later that night-

"I can't believe your dad was okay with me staying the night," Zelos grinned, hugging Lloyd around the waist.

"It's only because he doesn't know that you two are dating," Yuan snorted. "Believe me, it would be an ENTIRELY different outcome had he actually known about the two of you. Now, I swear to Martel that if I so much as hear one inappropriate noise, involuntary or not, coming out of this room, so help me, I will—"

"You mean something along these lines?" Zelos grinned, tickling Lloyd's ear with his fingers.

Lloyd let out a high pitched squeaking, which made Zelos grin and kiss at the other ear. That made a small moan surface from Lloyd's throat. Yuan twitched at hearing the noise. Lloyd punched Zelod in the shoulder for Yuan, his face as red as Zelos's hair.

"…Yeah, ANYTHING along those lines," Yuan said through grit teeth.

"Awww, but they're so cute!" Zelos swooned, nuzzling Lloyd in a hug against his chest once more. That helped to keep Lloyd from hitting Zelos again for the 'cute' comment. "But if you insist, I'll do my best to keep my hands off him."

"There is no trying. You WILL keep your hands to yourself," Yuan demanded. 'Don't be afraid to beat him up a little bit if he doesn't, okay Lloyd?"

"Don't worry, I've already got some practice in," Lloyd smiled up at Yuan. "He's already got it coming for throwing me around in the pool as much as he did yesterday." Lloyd snapped a glare over at Zelos, who just shrugged his shoulders and snuggled in closer to Lloyd. "We'll see you tomorrow Yuan. And don't worry, I can handle myself."

"For some odd reason, I highly doubt that, but I'll believe you for tonight. Goodnight boys," Yuan said, exiting the room. He turned back and stared directly at Zelos. "And remember, Zelos, NO inappropriate noises. Or else."

Zelos waved the older man off and made a grab for one of Lloyd's pillows and fell onto the bed. Lloyd waved as well and said a quick goodnight, immediately following Zelos's action. Yuan, still unsure about letting them sleep together in the same bed for the night, but not really wanting to draw too much attention to them so Kratos would remain oblivious about the whole relationship his son was having, reluctantly shut the light off the room and closed the door behind him. He waited for a moment, ear pressed against the door to try and pick up any noises, but all he heard was the two talking to each other about things they didn't yet know about the other.

Deciding it was okay to leave the two on their own, Yuan made his way downstairs. He found Kratos sitting in his usual spot on the couch with his laptop open on the coffee table in front of him. It appeared that he was looking at some other jobs that were open for him to take. Yuan smiled and plopped down right next to Kratos, leaning his head on his shoulder.

"Anything look particularly interesting?" Yuan asked.

"Not really. I'm just kind of looking. Ever since that whole pervert burglar case came up, I've been to paranoid to look at any other cases, and that's really starting to hurt my wallet," Kratos sighed.

"You know, I could always move out of my apartment and help pay for whatever you need help paying for. Lloyd's kind of been forcing me to stay over anyways. It would be pointless to own an apartment with hardly anything in it and when I barely come back home to visit it," Yuan suggested. "And before you ask, yeah, I'm fine with it, and before you deny me helping you pay anything, if I live here, I'm just as responsible for paying any bills as you are."

"I… I don't know. You know that Mithos comes over here all the time, so that could bring up some uncomfortable situations like yesterday," Kratos said quietly. "Of course, I wouldn't mind having you stay here. I really wouldn't. I'm more concerned about you though."

"Heh, if you're worried about any more conflicts with Mithos and me, I'll be more than willing to simply disappear while he's over. All you have to do is give me fair warning and I'll chill out in Lloyd's room until he's gone," Yuan smiled. Yuan slid his arms around Kratos's waist in a hug as he kept his head on the other's shoulder. "It would help save on gas if I just stayed here. It's closer to where I work, and then I won't have to make any trips back to the apartment to do laundry or pick something up for food. It would actually be a lot easier if I lived here with you guys."

Kratos looked over to his friend to make sure that it was okay with him if Kratos had said yes. He hadn't realized Yuan had snuggled up quite so close to him, and a fierce blush covered his face. The feeling of Yuan's breath brushing against his neck seemed to intensify ten fold when he saw how close Yuan was. It was hard for Yuan to keep from pushing Kratos down to the couch and kissing him from all the adorbleness radiating from him, but he held himself back.

"Y-you know Yuan, I remember Anna always saying that you had something to tell me. I know it was a long time ago, but you don't happen to remember what it was by any chance, do you?" Kratos asked.

Expression softening at the question, Yuan shook his head in a 'no'. Kratos heaved a disappointed sigh and turned back to his laptop, occasionally scrolling down the list of jobs.

"_I'll tell you soon enough. Just let me stay live in my selfishness a little while longer,_" Yuan thought to himself.

"If you want help moving in tomorrow, I'm more than happy to help," Kratos spoke up. "We do have the guest bedroom that you can sleep in if you want when you bring your mattress in. You can make that your room and make Lloyd's room the guest bedroom and just have him sleep on the couch."

"Nah, I prefer to sleep wherever you're sleeping," Yuan smiled as innocently as he possibly could. "If you don't mind of course."

Yuan could almost feel the blush on Kratos's face and it was more than enough to make the blunet grin proudly at what he'd done. He snuggled in closer to Kratos's neck, trying to see if he could get any more of a reaction out of the redhead. He could feel the man tense up in his arms for a split second, but he immediately relaxed.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?" Kratos asked, remembering how Yuan would always want to sleep near him, even after Anna and he had married. And of course, she would be more than willing to let him, at the very least, sleep in the same room. The redhead remembered an instance where she let him sleep in the same bed and she went off to keep Lloyd company for the night.

"I'm afraid I haven't. Well, I'm going to head off to bed. I had a long day at work and I've got to be up early enough tomorrow to wake the boys up so they aren't late for school," Yuan said, emphasizing his exhaustion by releasing Kratos to stretch and yawn.

"I won't be too far behind you," Kratos said as he watched Yuan cuddle himself against the back of the couch, behind him. "Sleep well, Yuan."

There was a cheery yet sleepy sounding 'g'night' as Yuan quickly drifted off to sleep. Kratos just smiled as he watched a blissful smile come over Yuan's face. He was tempted to reach back and brush a few strands out of Yuan's face, but he held back the urge, not wanting to disturb his friend. It wasn't often that Yuan would allow himself to fall asleep before him, but when he did, Kratos always enjoyed watching. There always seemed to be an air of innocence around the blunet as he fell asleep. As he watched, a memory of Anna flashed through his head.

"_You and Yuan are such amazing friends!" Anna laughed as she brushed baby Lloyd's hair. "I can't imagine you guys actually meeting. It's hard to think that there was a time that you two didn't know each other."_

"_Oh, there was a time that we met, granted it was quite some time ago," Kratos said, looking over a newspaper on a chair in the room._

"_Really? How did you guys meet?" she inquired, turning to him for a split second with a sparkle of interest in her eyes._

"_It's not exactly a story for Lloyd's ears…," Kratos frowned, hiding his blush behind the newspaper._

"_He's not going to understand," Anna pouted, grabbing Lloyd with one arm to rest him on her hip and tug at the newspaper with her other hand. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll set him in my lap, give him some toys, and cover his innocent little ears with my hands."_

_Thinking it over for a moment, Anna sat down on the floor and gave her husband the best puppy dog eyes that she possibly could. It didn't take long for Kratos to give in to the eyes he'd grown to love so much._

"_Fine. Give him some toys and cover his ears," Kratos demanded, handing Anna a nearby toy truck. Anna was quick to hand it to Lloyd, who quickly accepted the toy and started swooshing it around in the air as Anna covered his ears._

"_Spill it. Now."_

"_Well, just so you know, we were kids when we met. Really, REALLY little kids, didn't know right from wrong, too young to make our own decisions… THAT young." Anna nodded her head, egging Kratos to continue. "Anyways, it was sometime during our recess in third grade, I was out minding my own business, building up a sand castle or something in the sandbox, and out of no where, something grabbed at my hair…"_

_Kratos stopped midsentence, his face turning bright red. Frowning at the sudden pause in the story, Anna took one hand off Lloyd's ear and smacked at Kratos's leg, then quickly recovering the ear. He looked to her, frowning in disapproval at the action, but he continued nonetheless. _

"_Er, well, anyways, so I felt something pulling back at my hair. It wasn't too hard, but you know, I was what, nine, ten? Anything back then hurt enough to look back and see what the heck had happened. So I turned around to see who was pulling at my hair, and sure enough, it was Yuan. As soon as I looked at him, he just smiled and pat me on the head, and said 'I like your hair. It's super pretty.'" Once again, Kratos paused._

"_That doesn't sound that bad. Did you get to the embarrassing part yet? Or are you just leaving something out?"_

"_I'm getting there, jeez. I've never told anyone about this. It's kind of weird. It's just been our secret since no one's bothered to ask how we met…," Kratos said, sighing uncomfortably. "But, I digress… So after he said that, he sat down next to me to help me build a sand castle, trying to talk to me about something completely random. Of course, I was too upset that he'd pulled my hair to really talk to him. He was a quick kid, he always has been rather intelligent and quick to catch on to anything, so he grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the sandbox. _

"_I was yelling and screaming at him that some kid would steal my pile of sand that I was using, but once he stopped, he pat me on the head twice, smiled at me and then stuck out his hand. He said, 'I'm Yuan. I'm sorry about your hair. I wanna be friends, so can we?'. To be honest, I didn't have much friends at the time, so I was a little shocked that he wanted to be friends with someone as anti social as I was when he was a social butterfly. I'd always noticed him before playing with all sorts of kids since his blue hair really helped him stand out. So, I shook his hand and told him my name… and then he… reached forward… pulled my hand…" Anna was starting to lean forward in great anticipation in the completion of the sentence. "He kissed me, right on the lips."_

"_WHAAAAAAAT?" Anna exclaimed. "You asshole, you told me I was your first!"_

"_And this is why," Kratos sighed._

"_But that's so cute! It's like love at first sight… kind of," she said, giggling like a school girl. "I guess he really wanted to be friends with you for a while if that happened."_

"_I don't know. He's never really had an explanation for it ever since it happened. Every time I try to bring it up, he somehow changes the subject and gets me to forget about it until he's gone," Kratos said, pulling the newspaper back to his face. "Are you happy?"_

"_So how did that all lead to you guys being friends for life?" Anna asked._

"_I don't know. He always managed to find me through out school. I guess it's because he got lucky enough to stay nearby through out school that we grew close enough to want to be friends after we got out. That's enough questions. The story is done. D-O-N-E," Kratos said, peeking over his newspaper to glance down at his wife._

"_Aw, so you were a little player when you were younger. You hear that Lloydie? You're going to inherit his player gene and be irresistible to all the ladies, and possibly the men!" Anna laughed, grabbing Lloyd and raising him above her head. That resulted in the toy truck he was holding to fall out of his hand and drop down onto her head as he smiled at the baby voice Anna was using._

The memory faded away after that and Kratos found himself rubbing away tears from his eyes. He always found himself crying when he thought of Anna. But it wasn't too long before he felt arms wrapping around his waist from behind. Yuan, apparently having heard Kratos start crying, woke up and was trying his best to comfort him.

"I miss her too, Kratos," Yuan muttered, almost as if he knew what the redhead was thinking about. "It's not healthy to live in her memory though. People need you here now." Kratos felt Yuan hug him tighter. "If you ever start thinking of her and can't stop, find me. And if I'm not somewhere nearby, I'm sure I'm somewhere in one of those memories of her."

Kratos turned around to hug Yuan back, clutching to his shirt to find some sort of comfort in it. Reaching around Kratos, Yuan closed the laptop the redhead had been so fixated on earlier and started rubbing at Kratos's back.

"Come on, Kratos, I think it's time for bed," Yuan said softly, nudging at the man he was holding to lie down. "I'll be right here all night if you need me."

Nodding, Kratos gave into Yuan's words and grabbed a pillow to lie down on the couch. It wasn't long before Yuan followed suit and wrapped his arms around Kratos as if to shelter him from something. Kratos didn't mind though. He preferred it if Yuan was holding him. While he was in his arms, he felt safe.

"Thank you…," Kratos said quietly.

"For what?"

"Just for being there…"

There were no more exchanged words, since Yuan caught on that Kratos was starting to get tired. Yuan simply let the man he loved fall into a comfortable sleep in his arms without disturbing him from doing so. It wasn't long before he could feel his eyes beginning to grow heavy. Moments later, he let sleep take over once more.

-The next morning-

"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Yuan exclaimed, grabbing Zelos and throwing him off Lloyd's bed and across the room.

The yelling and crashing noises brought Lloyd to a quick sitting up position on his bed, wondering what had happened. When he saw Zelos rubbing his head clear on the other side of his room, it didn't take too terribly long for Lloyd to put together a guess on what had happened when Yuan had walked into the room.

After waking up from the couch, Yuan had carefully gotten up, trying his best to not wake Kratos up. He then made his way upstairs to get the boys up to get ready for school. When he opened the door however, he was not the least bit pleased to see what he saw and couldn't possibly unsee.

Zelos was casually sleep groping Lloyd's chest under Lloyd's shirt. The brunet was, of course, still sleeping and was completely oblivious to what the other boy was doing to him. That wasn't what Yuan had minded quite so much though. It was when Zelos had hugged his arms tightly around Lloyd and started dry humping him in his sleep that Yuan decided he needed to flip a bitch.

"What the fuuuuuck?" Zelos groaned at the blunet, trying his best to recover from having flown across the room. "What did I do to deserve that?"

"Lloyd, bathroom, get ready. NOW." Not wanting to anger Yuan anymore than he already was, he quickly grabbed some clothes and set off straight out of the room and across the hallway. Yuan turned his gaze to Zelos, an almost evil glint in his eyes. "You..."

"What?" Zelos huffed, getting up from the floor and onto his feet.

"What were YOU dreaming about?" Yuan snapped.

"You know, I don't really remember. The best way to remember a dream is to sit still in bed with your eyes closed for a while in the dark, in silence… not being thrown across the room by someone while they're screaming at you," Zelos said, a cocky smirk on his face. "I have the feeling it was a good dream too."

"KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF!" Yuan screamed, slamming the door shut behind him, not wanting to hear another cocky remark from the redhead.

Zelos sat down in a chair and brought his left ankle to his right knee. He leaned back in the chair, trying his best to remember what it was he had been dreaming. Whatever it was, it had left him with a raging hard on and a strong desire to be really close to Lloyd that day.

"I'll have to give him a good morning kiss once he's done in the bathroom," Zelos grinned deviously.

-END OF CHAPTER NINE-

banANNU :: Wow, I'm actually posting on Saturday. O.o It's a miracle.

Jazzimonster :: GET YOUR NEXT CHAPTER UP! I WANT THAT SMUT!

banANNU :: You remembered that I was putting MA content in the next chapter? Impressive.

Jazzimonster :: HOW COULD I FORGET SOMETHING LIKE THAT!

banANNU :: O.o Oh dear… well, don't be too disappointed if it's not exactly what you're hoping for.

Jazzimonster :: HOW COULD I BE DISAPPOINTED? IT'S SEX! MAN ON MAN BUTT ACTION! GET TO IT! –exitz-

banANNU :: … Oh dear. I hope to see you guys next chapter! I love you all, and don't forget to review! :D I have cookies for those that do! ^^ b Peace out!

Review of the week~!

MischievousWolf66 ::  
YAY! I'm glad you find it cute x3 I've been trying so hard to make sure people like i It's always such a relief to see that you guys like it. And don't worry about not reviewing ^^ I tend to be the same way when I review. I seem to only review when I really like the story, so it's understandable. However, I do await another review from you! That means that you'll have really liked that chapter xD  
The relationships have been really fun to develop to be totally honest. I hate rushing through things because I can't ever seem to make anything… good come of it… other than meaningless… stuff… derp. But now that I'm actually waiting to get them together, I'm really enjoying writing this story x3 And it's fine if you like Mithos. Jazz and I just both really dislike him, so we wanted some Mithos bashing. It won't get too terribly terrible though.  
You're actually the first one to notice how Dolly's name is Lloyd's name mixed up :O At least the first one to notice and comment about it. I remember Jazz looking at me funny when I told her the name. xD Don't feel stupid about it though. I'm pretty sure a bunch of other people haven't noticed yet derp. And the reaction for Zelos finding out… is a mystery that only I know. :O bwahahahahaha… you guys will find out soon enough though x3  
-patz Lloyd on the head- I think we all have our Lloyd moments e u e  
Lloyd :: ?  
banANNU :: e u e hee hee… nothing you cutie.  
xD Well, I hope you remember anything else you needed to say for your next review :D I can't wait to read it, seeing as that I loved reading the one you posted for the last chapter x3 By the way… I read your Zelloyd one-shot and absolutely loved i The suggestiveness was awesome beyond words! I usually don't read one shots, but I definitely love your style of writing~ It's really cute x3 Hope to see you around next chapter! *givez a cookie of friendship* le ciao~


	10. Chaptero diez

Title :: The New Job

Written by :: banANNU

Rated :: M

-review responses to the amazing reviewers :'D I love all of you!-

Guest (AKA :: Mizu Hoseki) ::  
It's hard to think of you only as a guest xD You're reviews are very recognizeable! Anyways…  
:'D Yay laughter! I haven't lost my touch! That makes me so happy that I can make my reviewers laug And of course I want a muffin! I will trade you some gummy worms for one :'D –nomz on muffin- mmmm blueberry muffins are amazing! Thank you :DD  
kekeke… lemon… x3  
And you know, Lloyd had to have a reason for being so dense himself… Like father like son, heh… silly Kratos. He'll realize things soon enough. Let's just hope no one winds up dead when it happens. O . O  
Ahahahahaha~ I actually saw a necklace very similar to the one that Zelos got for Lloyd. As soon as I saw it I was all :: MUST PUT THIS IN MY STORY! I'm glad you like the idea :D And oh my gosh XD That stupid dress! Lloyd just about killed me for drawing it up (I'm almost done drawing out the dress xD) I'm sure Lloyd will be happy that he heard it's been burned to ashes… colorful ashes xD  
-Takez the envelope- Heh, oh Mithos… Why you have to be a such a butt x3 I won't tell anyone though. –whistlez with you and hidez picturez under mah bed-  
OH MY GOSH, POCKY! –takez some of both- I love pocky. Q u Q Thank you! You are so frikkin awesome! –givez a few cupcakes-  
Heh… the person walking around outside… Kratos is just paranoid. –patz Kra-chanz head-  
Kratos :: wtf…  
banANNU :: hee hee~ I can't wait to see what you think of this one :D

ZaphiraX ::  
I'm so glad that you were able to read my chapter :O Sorry to have kept you waiting with this one though ^^; I hope it's worth the wait. By the way, I hope your vacation was super awesome :D To be honest, I'm really jealous. Q . Q I've never been anywhere outside the US. I wanna travel so badly. But anyways, if you ever find something else that's bothering you with my story, please don't be afraid to say something :3 I'm very open to any kind of help I can get ^^ It's very much appreciated. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

MischievousWolf66 ::  
:D YES! I love that people are enjoying the review of the week thing I started x3 I thought it would be fun to do. I love making people feel special :'D And if you want more cookies, I'm baking them constantly. O.o Seriously, it's a hobby of mine… take as much as you want. Today's special is mint chocolate chip :'D  
Anywho, yeah, I've always wanted to know what Anna was like since the game never really showed what she looked like or talked about her personality, but if Kratos liked her, she had to be an awesome person :3 So I tried to portray her as someone lots of people would like ^^ mission accomplished?  
Oh, ho, ho, Zelos is going to be much more touchy from here on out. They've only just started dating after all… he had to have been holding back before Lloyd gave an okay to be a little more touchy… -evil laughter- … A-hem, but yes, Yuan… stop it. He actually reminds me a lot of myself… since I have four younger siblings… ==; I can't help but love his goofy, loving and protective personality I've given hi  
It's only going to get worse I'm afraid… the tension that is… I've already laid most of what's going to happen out, and unfortunately, Mithos and Yuan have a lot of bad history. But I'm trying my best to keep the relationship between Yuan and Kratos as fluffy and fun as I possibly can. Kratos is a hard character to work with on getting him to like someone, especially when I've made him so clueless xD Oh well. It just makes writing his scenes all the more entertaining.  
OH MY GAWSH, FANART! O ^ O –makez grabby handz-  
I'm so glad that you like my OCs :'D When I write my own stories, I tend to spend a lot of time planning out characters, so maybe it helped a little when I threw some random characters in here? I dunno, I'm just happy you don't want to kill me for putting them in there xD Jazz isn't too big on Pheonix though, lulz… She thinks he's a creep… for good reason of course. I hope you remember what you're trying to say O ^ O You're making me very interested and hopeful that it's something good since it may or may not have to do with Lloyd. Heh, poor Lloyd… Hope you enjoy the chapter! –lookz at response- … well… I certainly like talking with you xD  
PS :: I'm happy to have you on deviantart as well X3

Aittla ::  
:D Cookies of friendship are the best! I hope you enjoy it x3  
And don't worry about grammer or anything like that. :D I'm not picky, especially when it comes to my precious reviewers. ^^ I love reading what people think of my stories, no matter how short or long the response is.  
And to be honest, that's not too bad of an idea. shall let Noishe bury him all the way to the core of the planet. Kekeke…  
I hope you like this chapter :D It's pretty fluffy this time!

Disclaimer ::

banANNU :: Welcome to Chapter T—

Jazzimonster :: e u e hee hee hee hee hee hee hee…

banANNU :: … chapter ten. Yes, there is finally some… mature adult… content… wtf jazz?

Jazzimonster :: hee… intimate stuffz.

banANNU :: o . O Yes… indeed. Well, since I'm pretty sure you guys want to just read this chapter... I don't own any of the tales characters. Sorry, if I did, there would be so much more… sexy scenes. x3 Well, enjoy the chapter!

PS :: Yes, I'm on DeviantArt, just incase you had any doubts on the strange person named banANNU posting the same chapters to DA that were on fanfiction. :P So no drama about that, kay?

Chapter 10

After Lloyd emerged from the bathroom, Zelos, after making sure neither Kratos or Yuan were anywhere nearby, grabbed Lloyd and pushed him back to give him the good morning kiss he'd wanted to give him earlier. Lloyd, as usual, was flustered at the sudden action and didn't know what else to do except freeze in place to let Zelos do what he wanted. Not too terribly pleased with the lack of a response, Zelos pulled away to give Lloyd a funny look. Figuring it was because he'd so suddenly attacked the boy, he brushed the look of his face and smiled.

"Good morning, hunny," Zelos grinned. "I just wanted to say that since Yuan didn't really give me a chance to when we got up. And since I got my good morning kiss, you don't have to hold my hand in the hallway today if you don't want to. So, how'd you sleep?"

Lloyd muttered a quick 'fine' as he motioned that the bathroom was all Zelos's. The brunet then took off to his room and closed the door behind him. Zelos just chuckled at how cute Lloyd was when he was shy.

"Well, I guess it is about time to relieve this little… problem," Zelos said, referring to the erection he'd managed to hide from Lloyd by slipping it up into the waistband of his pajama pants. "Maybe getting rid of it will help me remember that dream a little better."

So, Zelos stripped himself and turned on the shower. He posed for himself a few times in the mirror, shamelessly admiring himself. That was when he caught sight of the small collection of colognes he'd given to Dolly to give to Lloyd. His head tilted when he noticed the Chosen cologne wasn't on the counter, but the thought was quickly shrugged off as unimportant. It wasn't too long before he jumped into the shower, yelping at how cold it was before he immediately turned the knob to get the hot water going.

Hoping the cold water had helped reduce his 'problem', he sighed when he saw it was still there, almost waving at him as the water splashed against it. He knew it needed to be gone before he got to school since he'd only brought a pair of tight pants to change into for the day.

Before he decided to take care of the issue at hand though, he figured it would be a good idea to take care of his hair first so he didn't get any unnecessary fluids in it. He grabbed the shampoo bottle and poured a rather large amount onto his hand to make sure he could get all of his hair cleaned out.

Once he rubbed it into his hair, he immediately recognized it as Lloyd's distinct scent and smiled, starting to let random fantasies of Lloyd showering run through his mind. He didn't picture him naked… at first. Instead, he imagined the boy in a tight white tank top with some black shorts on. The water was cold of course, so as the water fell onto Lloyd, the tank top stuck to his skin and he could see the boy's nipples sticking up through the thin fabric. He imagined himself grabbing at Lloyd's shoulders and pushing him up against the side of the shower in a heated kiss.

"_Shit, this is making it so much worse… I should've brought my own shower stuff,_" Zelos said mentally, feeling all his blood rushing down to his groin.

He quickly washed the shampoo out of his hair and grabbed the conditioner to put it in and let it set. The smell of the conditioner, of course, didn't help too much either. The scent brought more visions, this time, without the shirt and completely covered in water. Heavy panting ensued as Zelos envisioned himself taking the boy to the floor and planting kisses over every inch of his exposed skin. The look he imagined on Lloyd's face was enough to drive the redhead absolutely mad. Lloyd's hair was stuck to his face, his lips slightly parted as the boy let out a breathy moan every now and again.

"Gotta get rid of this… Gotta get rid of this so I don't freak Lloyd or his dad out…," Zelos said to himself.

The redhead backed himself against one of the walls of the shower, sort of unsure on how to start. He would usually find a girl to get rid of any of his sexual urges, but now that he was with Lloyd, he couldn't just force himself on the boy or go out and find some random chick to release himself upon, so he wasn't used to relieving issues like this by himself. Plus, he was in an unfamiliar shower with other people than his trusted butler that could hear him.

"Well, we'll just have to keep this as quiet as we can then," Zelos muttered, grasping his fingers around his length. He took a quick intake of breath and then exhaled slowly.

As he started, he tried to think of Lloyd again, thinking it would help to make the process go by quicker. However, he seemed to have a bit of an issue with that. He grunted, aggravated, and made a grab at the shampoo bottle and opened it. He squeezed it just enough that he could smell the shampoo without squirting it into his face. Almost instantaneously, the images came flooding back into his mind.

"That's what I'm talking about," Zelos smiled, starting to pump his hand along his shaft.

It started out slow, but as the images of Lloyd bending over in front of him started to become more vivid, Zelos found himself moving his hand a bit faster. Zelos tried to reach out and touch the mental image with his free hand, but was only able to grab a bar of soap that quickly slipped from his grasp. He lightly swore as the images were briefly interrupted because he had to pick up the soap, but smiled once they were able to continue. The redhead found himself biting at his lower lip as he imagined himself playing with random places on Lloyd's body.

At first, they were more sensual touches, like kissing around his ears and neck. After a while though, Zelos allowed himself to nibble playfully at the brunet's collarbone as he let one hand fondle and pinch a nipple. The imaginary moans alone made Zelos grip at his erection harder and start pumping at it faster. It wasn't too long before ten minutes had past though and Zelos heard knocking at the door.

"Are you almost done in there?" came Lloyd's voice.

"U-uh, almost. Give me about five more"-his hand accidentally slipped past his shaft and ran roughly over the head—"minutes!"

"…Are you okay in there?" Lloyd asked.

"Why don't you come in here and see for yourself?" Zelos grinned, trying to keep the arousal from going down any. He'd gotten too far along to have to start all the way over again. "I'm sure you could help out somehow."

There was no answer. Poor Lloyd was probably blushing madly, not fully knowing the meaning behind Zelos's words. Though there was no response, an idea popped into Zelos's mind. He knew full well that he wouldn't be able to convince Lloyd to come in and do what he was thinking of, but he knew he could at least imagine it happening.

"I… do wonder what it would feel like… in that cute little mouth of his," Zelos muttered.

The thought was more than enough to get a reaction out of his lower region. Zelos's member stiffened up even more in his hand as he continued to stroke at it. This time, his imagination had placed Lloyd down on his knees, still completely covered in water of course, and grabbing at Zelos's penis with one hand. Zelos could almost feel the warm breath the imaginary Lloyd was breathing on the head of his member. The boy would make occasional licks at random parts along the shaft, and that simple thought had Zelos's body twitching with pleasure.

"Gotta hurry this up," Zelos said, breathing heavily.

He could see Lloyd's mouth open and Zelos made a light moan as he imagined the boy taking him in, inch by inch, and ravishing what he could with his tongue. Zelos started panting harder as he could finally feel his climax coming up. He ran his palm over the head of his erection a few time, gave it a few more rough thrusts with his hand, and soon afterwards, he felt himself release, a brief cloud of white hazing his vision for a moment. The redhead looked down to his hand and saw a portion of his semen in it, washing away down the drain from the water pouring from the shower head. He stood in the same spot for a moment or two, letting himself recover from the recent orgasm.

"Whew, I've got to try and convince him to do that for me some time. It's gotta feel so much better in real life," Zelos whispered to himself as he washed himself off as well as the wall he'd ejaculated on. "What's with that boy? I've never been into shit like that before. Of course, I've never really been into guys until he came along either. Ugh, it's going to be forever until we try anything like that anyways. He's so shy about kissing… jeez, I'm going to be in my late twenties before he's willing to even THINK about TRYING anything sexual. I suppose I'm going to have to try and find some of his turn ons to try and rush it along…"

Once Zelos was sure his semen was down the drain and all cleaned up, he turned off the shower and started to wring his hair out. He looked down to his now flaccid penis, which twitched a little bit, making the redhead smirk.

"Little bastard. Try and control yourself a little bit better why don'tcha? I know it's going to be a while before you get the good stuff again, but that certainly doesn't mean you have to make me take care of your urges whenever you deem it necessary for me to," Zelos said, opening the shower and grabbing a towel to dry off. When he got to his lower region, he recoiled a bit since it was still sensitive. "No need to be a dick about it."

%%%%%%%%%%

As Yuan was driving the two boys to school, Zelos couldn't help but to reach an arm around his boyfriend's shoulder and start tickling at his ear. Yuan would glance back, having heard whispers of protest, but as soon as he would look in the rearview mirror, Zelos's hand would be casually hanging on Lloyd's shoulder, doing nothing more than just laying there.

After a while, Yuan sighed, giving up on looking back at the two to see what it was Zelos was doing, but that didn't stop Lloyd from turning his head to face Zelos and softly glare up at him. Zelos could only smile at the brunet as innocently as he could, which was harder than it seemed, because he found Lloyd's little glare to be absolutely adorable.

"What's with you? You seem to be a little more touchy than usual," Lloyd whispered.

"I've only been your boyfriend for a little less than a day. I was holding myself back before that believe it or not. Plus I'm just happy I got to wake up at the side of the cutest person in the entire world," Zelos said, tapping the boy's nose with an index finger. "Hey, hunny?" Lloyd shoved at the redhead, letting him know Lloyd was paying attention. "Heh, well, I was just wondering, how much do you like silk exactly? I was thinking about getting you some silk pajamas or something of the like if you really like it."

Instead of answering with words though, Lloyd's cheeks did all the talking that was needed by blushing the brightest red Zelos had ever seen on them. That was all the response Zelos needed to make his decision final.

"Okay so I've got an idea of what size you are. You want red and black as the colors? Or would you just want one or the other?" Zelos whispered, breathing as hard as he could into Lloyd's ear. "Mmm, maybe I should just wrap you up in my sheets. You would look absolutely delectable like that if you catch my drift."

"So help me, Zelos, if you don't quit it while I'm sitting right here in front of you, I am going to take Kratos's sword to your hair, do you hear me?!" Yuan growled, finally catching Zelos teasing Lloyd. "And don't act like it's no big deal either! I know very well that you've been growing out your hair for years because you're so damn proud of it!"

Zelos made a grab for his hand and clung to Lloyd in an attempt to hide his hair behind the boy. Lloyd smiled, shook his head and gently pat Zelos's head as he snuggled his face into Lloyd's shoulder. A small smile tugged at Yuan's lips. He may not have been too keen on how close Lloyd was allowing Zelos to get to him as fast as we was, but he was happy that, despite the fact that Zelos was overly flirtatious, he was trying his best to keep Lloyd as happy as possible. He found himself a little jealous that the two could be happy together and not have to force themselves to hide their feelings from the other.

Noticing that Yuan wasn't paying too much attention to him anymore, he snuck a quick kiss to Lloyd's neck. He could see the soft smile on Lloyd's lips as the boy leaned his head on Zelos's and reached a hand over to lace it with his. There was a feeling of butterflies in Zelos's chest when Lloyd held his hand.

"_What in the world was that?_" Zelos asked himself as he sat up more to let Lloyd lean on his shoulder. He reached his arm around Lloyd's back to lay his and on Lloyd's head and run his fingers through his soft brown hair. "_He's so adorable. I can't believe I hadn't noticed him before with Sheena. His hair is so soft… and he smells really good._"

Having been too caught up in his thoughts of the boy sitting next o him, he didn't notice that Lloyd had looked up to him from his shoulder. Lloyd could see that Zelos was deep in thought about something, so he took the opportunity to poke at Zelos's cheek. The action brought Zelos's attention to Lloyd and he turned his head to look at the boy. As he did, Lloyd brought himself up to plant a chaste kiss on Zelos's lips, causing the redhead to blush just the faintest bit. Of course, it was nothing compared to how red Lloyd had gotten right before he buried his face into Zelos's shoulder.

A huge smile broke across Zelos's lips. That had been the first time Lloyd had willingly, without drugs or Zelos egging him on, kissed him. The butterfly feeling returned to his chest as he let Lloyd continue to lean on his shoulder. He loved the reaction Lloyd had given and how embarrassed he had become at something he himself had done. Zelos didn't dare ruin the moment by saying anything cocky or that would make Lloyd regret what he'd done and not do it again for a while.

"_He's so precious,_" Zelos thought, waiting for Lloyd to show his face.

"He's something special, isn't he?" Yuan said from the front of the car.

"Y-Yuan!" Lloyd exclaimed, revealing his face once more, still bright red.

"I'll have to agree with him on that, hun," Zelos grinned down to his boyfriend. Lloyd pouted. "I'll have to be sure to take extra good care of you to make sure no one else steals you away from me."

Lloyd was too embarrassed to say anything else and returned to hiding his face. A chuckle was heard from the front seat.

"He's so much like his father was," Yuan laughed. "Well, we're here. I suggest if you have anything you want to get out before you go into school that might be considered against the rules, I'll give you a few minutes and act like nothing's going on."

Zelos looked down to Lloyd and nudged the boy's face up by the chin. As usual when faced directly at Zelos, Lloyd's eyes glanced down at nothing in specific. So, Zelos just waited until Lloyd was comfortable enough to look up and see what the redhead was going to say or do. Instead of flat out kissing him like Lloyd had expected him to, he tapped their foreheads together and just nuzzled their noses.

"I think I like it better when you kiss me first," Zelos smiled. "So I'll try my best to let you do it… for the most part. You can't have me waiting for ever of course." Zelos reached up and rubbed his thumb across Lloyd's lips. "Well, come on. We'd better not keep Sheena waiting too long for us."

Lloyd nodded in agreement and grabbed his bag as Zelos grabbed his. Before they got out of the car, Lloyd tapped Zelos's shoulder, grabbing the older boy's attention for a moment. He turned around, directly into a kiss, that as soon as it had started, it had ended. Zelos didn't even have enough time to respond before Lloyd was out of the car.

"Hey, Zelos," Yuan said, looking back at the boy through the rearview mirror.

"Huh?"

"You had better take better care than just extra good care of him." Zelos paused to look over a little uneasily at the blunet in the front. "He may not be my kid, but I've helped raise him most of his life. He's not like any of the girls you've picked up, and he's not exactly the strongest person when he get's overwhelmed or upset. I swear, if you are ever the reason he ends up crying or gets hurt, I will not hesitate to make your life a living hell. He's one of a kind. Don't you dare make him another one of your 'hunnies'."

"Now why would I do something like that?" Zelos asked, trying to put a cocky smile on.

"Because he wouldn't be able to stop you from doing it. He really likes you Zelos. Don't make him regret it," Yuan said. Lloyd was pressing his face against Zelos's window, impatiently waiting for him to get out. "Better get going. Don't keep him waiting."

Zelos made a hasty exit so Yuan wouldn't freak him out anymore than he had. He immediately clutched to Lloyd as Yuan drove off, his eyes wide. Confused, Lloyd gently pushed Zelos away so they could walk together without drawing too much attention from anyone else. Before they could walk away from the car though, Zelos grabbed at both of Lloyd's shoulders and made sure Lloyd was looking directly at him as he spoke.

"I swear, I will take better care of you than anyone else ever has. I will never be the reason you're upset, and, and, uhm…"

The redhead was having a bit of trouble trying to get exactly what he wanted to say out. He certainly didn't want Yuan to make him absolutely miserable, but something about what he'd said to him made him want to say something that would stick out to his boyfriend. There was definitely something special about the boy, something he'd never seen in anyone before, and he wanted Lloyd to know that he knew that. But he'd never done anything like that before, and he didn't exactly know what to say, so he just stood there, holding the boy in his hands.

"Zelos, people are watching," Lloyd said, trying to hide his blush by rubbing at his cheeks. "Just text it to me. Sheena's gunna be over here any minute…"

"But I really want to—"

"Hey, Zelos!"

The two boys turned to find a random blonde girl running over to them. Her face had a sly little grin on it once her eyes met up with Zelos's. The redhead tilted his head, confused as to why this girl had run up to him this early in the morning. She shoved Lloyd from Zelos's grip and stood in front of him, trying her best to flaunt her cleavage to him.

"Excuse me?" Zelos frowned, looking past her to see if Lloyd was alright. He appeared to be a bit agitated that he'd been shoved, but other than that, he was fine. "Who are you?"

"Uh, it's me, Amber, you know, from the dance club? We danced and we exchanged numbers? You were supposed to call me and you never did, so I thought I'd try and find you at school," the girl grinned, twirling at her hair. "You left so suddenly that night that I wasn't able to go home with you. Also, I tried calling you and you never picked up."

Zelos noticed Lloyd was getting fairly upset with everything this girl was saying. Zelos mentally kicked himself. Here he was, trying to tell Lloyd he was special and this girl had to come up and ruin it. Lloyd looked like he was about to stalk off away from the two, but Zelos reached around the girl to grab at the boy's arm.

"Look, I'm sure you're, uh, very… nice, but I'm not really interested. You have to understand that I just go there to dance, really…," Zelos said, trying his best to keep Lloyd from pulling away from his grip. "Now if you'll excuse me Abby—"

"Amber."

"Whatever, I'm hanging out with someone right now. Go away…," Zelos said, shoving past the girl to stand by Lloyd.

"What?! You mean this trashy little boy you brought to the club with you?" Amber said, pushing a finger directly at Lloyd's face. "From what I saw at the club, he's gay. That little slut was letting some random guy touch and feel all over him."

Those words cut right through Lloyd, making him stop struggling to get away from Zelos and look at the ground absolutely torn. That resulted in Zelos turning on the girl, a look of pure disgust on his face.

"Look, bitch, from what _I _remember, you were dancing with about twenty other guys as well as a few girls before you came over to dance with me. Not to mention, you probably got a few more numbers than just mine. It's too bad your brain's not as big as your chest. Maybe then you could've figured out no one was interested in you," Zelos snarled. "You've no right to put down my friend because he got further with me than you ever will."

"What?!" both Amber and Lloyd said in unison.

"You heard me. I got to see him topless, and I got to sleep with him," Zelos grinned, pulling Lloyd close to his chest and snuggling his face to the boy's cheek. "And I have to say, he's much more comfy than your bags of fat will ever be."

Amber, completely appalled by what she's just heard, turned on her heels and stormed off in the direction she'd come from. It was right about then that Sheena came up, snickering about how someone "pissed off the hussy". She walked up to Zelos, completely ignoring the fact that he was snuggling as close as he could to the brunet in his arms and kicking at his shins.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Zelos whined, releasing Lloyd to rub at his shins.

"No reason," she grinned, sticking her tongue out at him. She looked over to Lloyd. "So, how'd everything go yesterday? You were kinda supposed to come back over to my place yesterday and I didn't see ya. What happened?"

"Er…," Lloyd trailed off, not sure how to answer the question.

He had had Sebastian call the girl to alert her that he didn't need to be picked up after work. He could hear the girl was quite upset that Sebastian had already found out about Lloyd's little secret and was fairly worried that Zelos had found out too. Sebastian of course, eased her worries and let her reassured her that everything was just fine.

"Oh, you never mentioned anything about Sheena," Zelos said. "Sorry, I guess we kinda had some much needed guy time over at his house."

"Say what?" Sheena asked, not initially believing what she'd heard. "You never go to anyone's house."

"What can I say? He's got me wrapped around his little finger," Zelos smirked, once again grasping Lloyd around the neck.

"Ugh, quit that!" Sheena growled, shoving at Zelos's face and pushing him away from Lloyd. "What is with you lately? You have never EVER liked a guy before. All the sudden you just now decide to notice Lloyd, who's been here this whole time mind you, and you're all over him unlike any hunny you've ever 'liked'."

"Hey Sheena?" Lloyd spoke up.

"Hm?" she responded, ignoring Zelos's whining about being shoved in the face.

"If it's okay, I kinda wanna talk to Zelos before class starts," Lloyd said, making a grab at the redhead's arm. "We'll meet up with you right before class starts though, I promise."

Lloyd tugged at Zelos's arm to motion him where he wanted to go. As they walked off, Sheena sighed. Sebastian had already told her they were going out, but she didn't want to ruin it for the two of them until they were ready to talk about it. And of course, Lloyd was going to be as secretive about it as possible as long as he could.

"Stupid Zelos. What does Lloyd find so attractive about him?" she said, rubbing at the back of her neck.

As they were walking, Lloyd couldn't wait to find a spot for themselves, so he slid his hand down to lace with Zelos's and started talking.

"I don't like girls like her," Lloyd said bluntly, gripping Zelos's hand tightly.

"Who does, Bud?"

"No, I mean, I… The way she was talking to you. I don't like it." Even as they were walking, Zelos could tell Lloyd wasn't too happy and that made his stomach start to knot up nervously. "I know it wasn't really… well, it kinda was, but for the most part, it wasn't your fault. She didn't know when to quit though, and it… kinda bugged me."

They'd finally found a spot where both teachers and students rarely passed by and stood there. Zelos was happy that Lloyd was still holding his hand, but the look Lloyd had on his face had the redhead a little uneasy.

"I'm really sorry about that," Zelos apologized quietly. "I feel really bad saying this, but it's probably going to be a little difficult for the first few days or so. As you know, I haven't really been the most… well, reserved kind of person, but I promise you, once they all know I'm not interested or single anymore, I will be devoted completely to you, hun."

"…Only when they know?"

"That came out wrong. Look, Lloyd, I know how reserved you want to be about this, but because of that, it's going to be hard for a little while since no one knows we're dating." Zelos brushed his fingers against the side of Lloyd's cheek and Lloyd grabbed at that hand.

"Then… maybe we should…" Lloyd found he couldn't finish the sentence he'd started, which perked Zelos up some. "N-Nevermind. It's nothing. I-I'll be able to get through it."

"No, what were you going to say?" Zelos grinned, pinning the boy back against the wall.

"No-nothing! I wasn't going to say anything!"

"Liar. Come on, tell me please?" Zelos was giving Lloyd the best puppy dog eyes he could. "It would make me really happy."

"I… uhm, it was only a thought… I was thinking maybe… we should just tell… everyone so they can leave you alone… the girls I mean." Lloyd saw the smirk slide onto Zelos's face and it made his stomach flip nervously. "It was only a thought Ze—What are you doing?!"

The redhead had gripped Lloyd's hand as tight as he could without hurting the boy and started dragging him out from their private spot. Loud protests were heard on Lloyd's part as the boy flailed his arms about, trying to break free and hide. But Zelos thought that was a good idea. He thought it was a VERY good idea. So he looked for the biggest group of girls he could find, walked right into the middle of their circle and smiled at them.

By that time, Lloyd was bright red and had a bad idea on what was going to unfold in front of this group of girls. For the most part, they swooned when they saw Zelos grinning at all of them, but a few pointed Lloyd out and were confused as to why the so called player was holding another man's hand. Their answers were quickly answered when Zelos started speaking to make sure he had as much attention as he could possibly get from them.

"Hi, ladies. I would like you to meet my adorable little friend, Lloyd. He has mentioned to me that he doesn't like how most of you girls make it a point to come up to me and make your moves, so to speak. So, I would like to let all of you know, this cute boy right here? He's mine, and I'm his." Shouts and gasps quickly arose from many of the girls standing around them, making Lloyd feel uncomfortable standing there. The glares from most of the girls were starting to make him feel a little sick. "And just so you know, I'll be by him as often as I can, so I'm not going to let you do anything to him. Oh, and in case you don't believe me, hunny, can I have your attention?"

Not wanting to look at any of the girls anymore, Lloyd forced himself to look at Zelos. There was a very tender smile awaiting him when he looked up, which helped to calm his nerves just a little bit. But his stomach started doing back flips as Zelos placed a hand on each side of Lloyd's face and he pulled him up into a gentle kiss.

There were shrieks as wells as swoons from every last girl surrounding the two boys. Zelos was very intent on making sure Lloyd didn't pull away too soon so that the kiss would be enough to discourage any females from approaching him in the future while Lloyd was around. Once he was ready, Zelos slowly pulled away, making sure Lloyd was close enough to Zelos's face so he could see him smiling at the boy.

"I know this made you really uncomfortable, hun, but I swear, I'll make it up to you, okay?" Zelos said in a whisper. "Try not to be too mad with me, okay? I'm going to take you to a really nice place tonight, okay?"

"It better be reeeaaalllly nice," Sheena's voice came up in a growl. Zelos froze in place after grabbing Lloyd in a hug. "Okay, sluts, back off and leave them alone. Nothing else to see here. You'll get your spot back in a moment after Lloyd has some time to recover."

A few bits of bickering were heard here and there, but one by one, the girls walked away to leave the two boys on their own with Sheena to stand guard. There were a few regretful thoughts running through Zelos's mind on whether or not he should've done what he did, but knowing he would be able to hold Lloyd without having to hide it from everyone was enough to make him think he'd done the right thing in the long run. Now, at the school at least, they wouldn't have to worry about girls coming up to Zelos and trying to flirt with him in front of Lloyd ever again.

"You really need to work on how you go about doing anything. I'm sure that wasn't exactly how Lloyd really wanted to let everyone know that you two were going out. Something a little more subtle like holding hands in the hallway and giving him a few cheeks smooches here and there would've been enough to get their attention." Sheena's arms were crossed over her chest as she glared angrily at the redhead. "And I mean it. Wherever you're taking him tonight, it had better be pretty fucking nice. If I were him, I'd have left your ass right there. Fortunately for you though, Lloyd is a lot nicer than anyone I've ever met." Sheena put her hand on Lloyd's shoulder. "You okay there Lloyd?"

The boy turned his head to her, angry look on his face. There were a few tears welled up in his eyes from the embarrassment of what happened, but she could definitely tell Lloyd was none too happy with Zelos at the moment.

"He's such an ass," he whined, trying to sound as irritated as he could. It wasn't too convincing though since the boy was clinging as tightly as he could to the redhead. "I hate you so much right now, Zelos."

Lloyd was now softly punching at Zelos's chest, making Zelos smile awkwardly as he ruffled the brunet's hair. Sheena only sighed, wanting very badly for Lloyd to just punch him in the face and make sure he left the cocky redhead along for the day as punishment. She knew full well that Lloyd was much too kind to do something like that to him though.

"Sorry, Bud. I'll make it up to you, I promise," the redhead said, trying to pry the boy away from him so he could look him in the eyes. "I'll get you something really special. Come on, Bud, let's get out of their spot. I'm sure they want to have it back and start letting everyone know that I'm no longer available."

"I'm not kissing you for a whole week," Lloyd pouted, letting go of Zelos to walk beside Sheena.

"Whaaat?!"

"Heh, you heard him," Sheena chuckled. "Oh, by the way, Dolly's not going to be able to make it in tonight. She's going out with me and the girls."

"I don't care, what do you mean, hunny? I told you I like it when you're the one that starts it, don't you remember?" Zelos whined.

"Of course I do. That's why I'm not doing it."

The three went on, mostly with Zelos begging Lloyd to change his mind since he was taking him on a special date later that night. Like Sheena wanted him to though, he stood by what he said and was very intent on not changing his mind. Zelos tried bribing the boy, but it was to no avail.

Soon enough, the bell rang to alert students it was time to get ready for class. Zelos was still pleading for Lloyd to change his mind, complimenting him every way he could as well as telling him how he could get him anything he wanted.

"You can wait a week," Sheena frowned. "I'm pretty sure you've gone much longer without a kiss than just a week."

"You don't understand Sheena. Lloyd's kisses are so cute and perfect! They're nothing lik—" Zelos was cut off by Lloyd smacking him across the head. "Ow, Lloyd, that hurt."

"It was meant to," Lloyd frowned. "Let's get going to class…"

The brunet shyly held his hand out for Zelos to hold, and when Zelos saw that, his mood instantly got better. He eagerly took the offered hand and slid his fingers through the spaces between Lloyd's and clasped them shut.

"Perfect fit," Zelos murmured to Lloyd, making the boy blush. "Even if you're not going to kiss me for a week, don't think I won't be making any moves on you, sweetheart."

"Oh, Zelos. You're in for a long, hard, painful journey of sexual frustration, you know that right?" Sheena smirked.

"Yeah, I'm already well aware," Zelos sighed, walking Lloyd off to his first period class.

-End of Chapter 10-

banANNU :: Yes, I'm very well aware that this chapter is much shorter than what they usually are. I apologize. OTL

Jazzimonster :: = n = nannu…

banANNU :: Yes? O u o

Jazzimonster :: You told me there would be intimate stuff… = ^ =

banANNU :: O . O Masturbating is intimate. It's considered MA… so it's not REALLY allowed on fanfiction. Q . Q

Jazzimonster :: WHEN IS THE BUTTSEX?!

banANNU :: TT ^ TT A few chapters away…

Jazzimonster :: … RAAAGGHHHHHH –throwz a table across the room-

banANNU :: I'll make pretty fanart if you want Q . Q

Jazzimonster :: Okay :D

banANNU :: :C That didn't take much. Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter :D I was planning on having Zelos and Lloyd keep their relationship secret for a while, but I didn't want to have too much relationship issues because of stupid girls coming up and trying to get it on with Zelos :B So yay! Everyone knows… except Kratos. Kratos can't know anything. ^^;; There will be some Kratos stuff next chapter. And once again, sorry this is so short. OTL I didn't want to get halfway through the date and then have to end the chapter :P This seemed like a good spot to end it. Can't wait to see you next chapter! Don't forget to review! … possibly on fanfiction instead of Adultfanfiction? :'D

Jazzimonster :: Fanaaarrrt!

banANNU :: -face palmz- Hope to see you in the next chapter~

Review of the week~!

DennyTribal ::  
knew someone would see my username on DA and follow me her –givez a cookie of friendship- And you gave me three reviews for three different chapter –feelz super special- And you just posted the review for chapter nine right before I posted chapter ten. O . O I hope you're still on so you can read it! I hope you like the chapter! It's a little shorter than all the others, but I tried to force in a lot of cuteness and stuff… x3 I can't wait to see what you think of it~  
… I'm going to make all my reviewers fat if I don't stop it with the cookies… Derp.

I decided to screw the rules... Even if I don't have money. ):D You now don't have to worry about going to adultfanfiction. If something does happen though... I'll just revert this back... :3


	11. Chaptero once

Title :: The New Job

Written by :: banANNU

Rated :: M

-review responses to the most amazing people out there!-  
-thank you guys so much for being there to support and inspire me to keep on writing!-

Raen Riddle ::  
I hope you were able to find the chapter! I hope my pm helped… if not, I do have the link in the chapter 10 now. Q . Q Sorry for all the confusion I caused. Fanfiction really doesn't like posting links in stuff I've come to discover... TT ^ TT

DennyTribal ::  
**In response to the review!**  
Of course I remember you! xD I'm so glad I was finally able to help you get to read the chapter :D We went through so much trouble though xD I'm glad my boyfriend was able to help with a wonderful suggestion if we have any other issues.  
Btw… o.o I've been a pervy fangirl since I was eleven or twelve. O.o My friend tried to freak me out with a random shounen-ai manga, and I brought it back to her the next day asking for something more "intense" xD *BACKFIRED* … pst, I'm absolutely in love with Kratos to But I have to say, I find Lloyd to be absolutely adorable… as Jazzimonster recently told me, he's so cute, it has to be illegal xDD  
**Anyways, in response to your pm!  
**First off… that's aggravating. O n O Why would fanfic deny someone from commenting more than once in a chapter. =3= RAGH! Fanfiction is too difficult…  
I am so happy that you liked it :'D That's the first chapter that I've ever posted that has anything, per say, too sexual to post on fanfiction x'D I've always been afraid to show anything that I've written like that to anyone, but since it's gotten so many nice reviews… *evil laughter*  
Be careful with that coke btw… *handz another bag of gummy worms*  
And don't worry too much about Yuan. He can definitely handle himself very well against Mithos… who is, to answer your question, the older version xD I just prefer to type his name as Mithos instead of Yddrasil… :3 It is his original name anyways ^^  
And believe it or not, lots of stuff is going to be revealed, VERY soon… and it's going to be EXTREMELY dramatic… be it good or bad, you'll just have to wait and find out. ;D  
Oh my gosh, I'm so glad my story is interesting enough for you to read D': I've always liked reading stories that have more than a thousand words per chapter, so I try to keep my own stories that way xC And to be honest… I'm afraid to end this story D': It's so incredibly fun to write!  
I can't wait to see what you think of this chapter though. THERE'S LOTS OF CUTESY STOOF! :'D

Mizu Hoseki ::  
xDDD *patz head* No worries dearie. It happens to the best of us. ^w^  
Heh, gummy worms x3 *givez some more*  
YAY! I'm so happy! I was so nervous about posting that chapter Dx I was wondering if it was good enough to post… I'm so glad I'm getting such good feedback on it thoug Oh, and if you don't mind… *snagz a bottle of booze* :P Don't worry, I haven't had a drink in over a year. *handz over another cupcake* Well if you love them, I'll just have to keep making them for you ;D  
And oh my gosh, you have to see the adorable fanart of that scene!  
Here :: mischievouswolf66 . deviantart . com/art/Zelloyd-319760974  
Just remember to take out the spaces! Thanks so much btw for showing me that trick! It's really helpful :'D I certainly hope Kratos doesn't find out since he's always on his laptop… o.o I wonder if he has a deviantart account…  
I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did all the others ^^ hee hee~

MischievousWolf66 ::  
OH MAI GOSH! *fangirl squealz* Q u Q Your fanart is super awesome amazing! I know I've already said that on DA, but I can't begin to even express just how much I love it! *hugglz* Thank you so much! Btw, the cookies of the day are Lemon Macadamia Nut :D But if you don't like lemon or macadamia nuts, I've got sugar cookies too ^^  
*fist pumpz* SCORE! :'D I'm so glad Anna is awesome! And shitte (pronounced shy-tay XDDDD) is going down in the chapter after this. O.o at least SOME of it is. DUN DUN DUUUUNNNN…  
*patz Kratos's head* :B Don't be angry Kra-chan… She does speak the truth.  
Kratos :: D:(  
Nannu :: … that's a very awkward angry face Kratos…  
Kratos :: t( -_-#)  
Nannu :: … ANYWAYS! xD Phone masturbation… fufufufufufuuu… XDDD Funny mental image. O.o Moving on! Yeah, I'd have posted the chapter here if I wasn't so paranoid that fanfiction would be all up on my arse about it. O.o don't wanna deal with real life drama. I wanna keep that in the story please… And no worries… like I told Mizu, I knew a bunch of this kind of stuff when I was about eleven or so :B  
Hahaha, Zelos is better than he thought at telling girls off xD Better than I thought at least ouo;; Well, making out isn't too bad this early… there are plenty of other stories with much worse without the pairing even dating. Oh well :D  
SHHHH… O . O don't tell everyone about the loophole… *bribez you with cookies and cupcakes*  
Oh I know! I've drawn out little Kratos and little Yuan, and I can't stop squealing every time I look at it! And if it reminds you of your one-shots, I certainly can't wait to read them. OnO I'm a sucker for cute things…  
I hope you enjoy this chapter! … long response is long… OnO b

-remember to review if you would like a response-

Disclaimer ::

… feeling lazy today…  
I don't own Tales of Symphonia, nor any of the characters in it. I am not making money by writing this fiction.

VARNING! :: SUPER CUTE, FLUFFY, ADORABLENESS AHEAD! BE SURE YOU'RE NOT EATING ANY CANDY OF ANY KIND! THAT INCLUDES YOU REVIEWERS! PUT DOWN THOSE COOKIES/GUMMY WORMS/CUPCAKES/MUFFINS/SODA I MAY HAVE GAVE YOU! I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CAVITIES YOU MAY GET FOR READING THIS CHAPTER!

Naw, but it is cute and sweet :3

Enjoy!

Chapter 11

"Come on, you have to try it hun," Zelos whined, poking at Lloyd's lips with his finger. "I promise you it will taste really good."

"No it won't," Lloyd huffed, pushing the redhead completely off of him. "I don't want to."

"Oh come on, please? What if you just lick at it? That's all I'm asking."

"No! What if it gets on my face? Or in my hair?!" Lloyd was now glaring at Zelos. "No means no. I already chocked on the last thing you made me try. I don't want to taste that… squishy stuff."

Zelos wasn't going to take no for an answer though, so the redhead scowled, stuck two fingers in the younger's mouth to pry it open, and shoved a spoonful of cinnamon flavored cheesecake into his mouth. He then placed his hand over the boy's mouth to make sure he didn't spit it back out. Lloyd flailed his arms around, trying to get Zelos off of him, but it was to no avail. Lloyd gave in and swallowed the spoonful, trying his best not to let any cinnamon flavor linger on his taste buds.

Seeing that the food had been swallowed, Zelos grinned and pulled his hand off of Lloyd's mouth, replacing it with a peck on the lips. Still not too pleased that he'd been force fed something he knew he wouldn't like, he glared at Zelos.

"You said you wanted to try something sweet," Zelos said, smiling.

"I also told you I don't like cinnamon," Lloyd huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Did you bring any chocolate at all?"

"I did, but I was saving that for later. No need to sit so far away, hunny. Come here," Zelos said, wrapping an arm around Lloyd's waist to pick him up and set him in his lap and facing the redhead. "Let's just forget about the food for right now, okay? I brought you out here so we could admire the view."

Lloyd was about to start squirming because he didn't want to be on Zelos's lap, but when Zelos pointed up to the sky, his brown eyes lit up. He'd never seen so many stars before because of all the light pollution the city they lived in gave off. Sebastian had driven the two out to a more secluded area, about half an hour out of town so they could have a picnic. Before long, the sun had set, and the stars started to come out one by one.

As Lloyd looked to the sky, completely awe-struck, Zelos found he was more fixated on the innocent look on Lloyd's face rather then any of the scenery. Every once in a while, Lloyd's face would break out into a smile and he would point at a satellite streaking across the sky, and Zelos could feel his heart fluttering every time he saw that expression. It had only been a day since the two had started going out, and he found himself falling for this boy he'd only met a week ago harder than he'd fallen for any girl he'd ever known.

"_What is it about this boy? I hardly know anything about him, yet he's managed to get me to do things with him I'd never dream I'd be want to do with anyone,_" Zelos thought.

There was a slight breeze that had a bit of a chill to it that made Lloyd unconsciously snuggle up closer to Zelos's chest. The redhead chuckled to himself and pulled off his jacket to lay it on Lloyd's shoulders. Lloyd had completely disregarded the action as he shook Zelos gently to try and get him to look at a satellite that seemed to have quite a long tail following behind it as it flew threw the sky. Zelos just smiled, looked up for a moment and then brought his gaze back to the little brunet sitting in his lap.

"The stars look so pretty out here," Lloyd said after a while. He brought his gaze back down to look at Zelos and smile.

"They look much more radiant sparkling in your eyes," Zelos smiled gently. Lloyd was thankful it was dark enough out that Zelos couldn't really make out the tinge of red on his cheeks. "There's something about you, Lloyd that I just can't put my finger on." Zelos reached up and placed a hand on each of Lloyd's cheeks. "You're so innocent, it almost scares me. It makes me want to keep you all to myself just to make sure nothing taints that beautiful innocence of yours…"

While Zelos spoke, Lloyd could feel his face getting hotter and hotter. No one had ever complimented him like that in his life, except for maybe his mother, but this was different. This was a kind of compliment that made his heart speed up and his head slightly dizzy. This was a kind of compliment that made his mind race with a thousand thoughts a minute.

"Goddess, I wish I'd known you earlier than just last week, Lloyd. I want to know so much more about you, your likes, your dislikes, your fears so I can protect you, your favorite season of the year so I can spend as much of it as I can with you…" Those slender blue eyes went to a half-lidded gaze that caught Lloyd off guard. "I want to know you as much as I can, backwards and forwards, up and down, inside and out. I want to know you more than anyone else does and make you mine and mine alone. You perk this interest in me that I can't explain, and it makes me want you more than words can describe. I want to make lasting memories with you…"

"Z… Zelos…," Lloyd trailed off, not knowing how to even begin to respond to something like that.

"I wanna kiss you, Lloyd," Zelos said in a whisper.

There was something about the way Zelos said those words that brought everything Lloyd was doing to a complete halt. He stopped breathing, he stopped moving, he stopped blinking… he could've swore that his heart stopped beating. And because of that, he did absolutely nothing to stop Zelos from leaning into his face and locking his lips into a kiss.

This kiss, to Lloyd, was much different than any of the other random or forced kisses Zelos had given him. Instead of either wanting to shove at the redhead for being insensitive or wanting to pull away from being flustered, Lloyd found himself melting into the kiss as he clenched a handful of Zelos's shirt in his hands. The kiss was much gentler than any of the others, and it had Lloyd yearning for more then just a few seconds of one kiss. Zelos, of course, answered that want by continuing the kiss by pulling away a few millimeters and then going back in for another.

Zelos's hands slid from Lloyd's cheeks, one sliding to the back of Lloyd's head to grip his hair and the other down the boy's back to nudge him closer. Occasionally, the two would pull away to get a few breaths in, but would immediately continue on with what they were doing.

"_His lips are so soft,_" Zelos thought.

Lloyd suddenly felt Zelos's tongue flick out for a split second to run over his bottom lip, causing a small gasp to break the kiss for a moment. It wasn't long until Lloyd leaned back in though, letting Zelos start to nibble and suck at his lower lip. Lloyd felt Zelos's grip on his hair tighten some as the redhead got more of a taste of him. At one point, Zelos started kissing around at random spots on Lloyd's face and neck, making the boy bite at his lip.

"That's quite a sexy look you have there, hun," Zelos smirked, coming up from kissing Lloyd at the base of his jawline. "Is it okay if I kiss you some more?" Lloyd nodded silently. "Good. I can't seem to get enough of your taste. It's intoxicating…"

And Zelos meant that. Every time he was able to run his tongue across any part of the boy's skin, there was a sweet aftertaste that the redhead found addicting. So, in order to get more of that flavor, he dived down into another kiss, desperately wanting to get a taste of the inside of Lloyd's mouth. He would occasionally lick at Lloyd's lips, trying his best to imply he wanted entrance, but the boy didn't seem to catch on.

Zelos pulled away from the kiss, just for a moment, to playfully nibble at the shell of Lloyd's ear, which pulled a moan from his throat. The redhead was going to try and see if Lloyd had opened his mouth enough to get in a few seconds of tonguing the boy, but that moan… Zelos absolutely adored that noise and decided he would keep nibbling at the other's ear instead. More mewls and groans were heard, but the best one came up when Zelos gently sunk his teeth into the boy's earlobe.

"Aahhh!"

Purely stunned, Zelos pulled away, worried he may have hurt the boy. However, the look on Lloyd's face held the exact opposite expression of pain. Lloyd's lips were still parted as he was panting rather hard. When his eyes locked onto Zelos's, the boy absentmindedly bit at his lip. Zelos's eyes widened.

"_I got a full open mouthed moan out of him! I found a turn on spot!_" he thought, a wicked grin sliding onto his face. "_I wonder…_"

So Zelos went straight back to the ear he'd be playing with and started sucking and nipping at the lobe. He felt Lloyd's arms being thrown around his back and his hands cling tightly to the back of Zelos's shirt.

"Zzzeell…Z-Zelos!" Lloyd nearly shouted. "Nnnn—Ahhhh!"

"Oh, Goddess," Zelos panted, pulling away from the boy's ear. "You have the most beautiful… wonderfully, sexy voice I've ever heard. How in Martel's name are you still a virgin?"

"I-I-I d-don't know," Lloyd stammered, blushing red up to his ears.

Zelos grabbed Lloyd and pinned him down to the ground on his back. "It doesn't matter," he said softly. "But you are NOT allowed to make that noise for anyone else. It belongs to me and you, and no one else."

Before Lloyd could say anything in response, Zelos reached down and started their kissing session back up. Zelos released the pressure he'd been placing down on Lloyd's wrists and instead laced his fingers into Lloyd's. Even though he wore gloves over his hands, he could still feel the ring he'd given to him on his ring finger. The redhead smiled into the kiss, happy he'd left some sort mark on him to say he was taken.

Suddenly, to Zelos's delight, Lloyd shyly opened his mouth to allow the redhead to explore, and Zelos took advantage of it as long as he possibly could. He let his body sink down onto Lloyd's as he deepened their kiss, happily tasting as much of the boy as he could. There was a small moan that came from Lloyd's throat somewhere in the middle of the kiss that started to drive the redhead over the edge. He released one of Lloyd's hands and placed it down at the boy's hips, slowly snaking his fingers up Lloyd's shirt. The more skin he felt, the more Zelos found himself wanting to touch, so he slid his arm further up, feeling as much of the boy's stomach and torso as Lloyd would let him.

Unfortunately, as soon as Zelos's fingers managed to brush across a nipple, Lloyd yelped and pulled away from the kiss they'd been sharing. Zelos immediately pulled his hand from underneath the brunet's shirt and sat back to let Lloyd recover from what had just happened.

"Sorry about that," Zelos apologized. "Old habits are hard to break."

"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked, sitting up and pulling his knees to his chest.

"Heh, you know… Uhm, I've slept with a lot of girls, and, uh, things tended to move very fast within the period of one night. Second base was usually achieved within an hour or two…," Zelos laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"…I don't have boobs though," Lloyd stated bluntly.

"I'm well aware… However, you did react pretty strongly to just that little touch, you know," Zelos grinned. This earned him a heated blush. "I'll try to lay off on the touching if it makes you feel better though. Don't be afraid to let me know if you start to feel uncomfortable, okay?" Lloyd nodded. "Good. Now get over here, and let's take a look at the second most beautiful thing out here tonight."

Lloyd tilted his head to the side.

"What's that?" he asked.

"The stars of course."

Lloyd shrugged and scooted back over next to Zelos. The redhead smiled happily, and placed an arm over Lloyd's shoulders to pull him in closer. He felt Lloyd nuzzle his head comfortably on his chest as the stared back up at the stars. After a few more minutes, Lloyd spoke up again.

"So what's the most beautiful thing here then?"

Zelos unexpectedly flopped onto his back, motioning Lloyd to lean in closer to him. Obediently, the boy came over to Zelos to hear what he had to say.

"It's too bad you can't see it as well, but…" Zelos brought Lloyd down to lay on his chest. "I have to say the most amazing thing here is you."

Lloyd let out a bashful giggle as Zelos gently stroked his fingers through the boy's hair. The two looked up to the stars together and suddenly, the two saw a shooting star fly all the way across the sky, making Lloyd sit up and point to it while tugging at Zelos's shirt.

"Did you see that?! Whoa! That one was frikkin cool! Zelos, you saw it, right? Did y—What are you doing?" Lloyd asked, noticing the redhead had leaned over to grab something from inside their picnic bag. "Is that chocolate?"

"What else would it be?" Zelos chuckled, placing an unwrapped piece of chocolate in between his teeth. "This one's got caramel filling. Unfortunately, it's the only one I've got that's got caramel in it…" Lloyd's mouth started to water at the word 'caramel'. "If you want some, hun, you'd better come and get it."

"Bu-But I said I wasn't going to kiss you fir—"

"It doesn't have to end with a kiss. I'm just offering you some chocolate," Zelos grinned. "It's really good chocolate too."

Debating on whether or not to attempt to get the chocolate, Lloyd noticed Zelos was starting to tease at him by licking the portion of the chocolate that was already in his mouth. Lloyd groaned at the fact of Zelos already finding a sort of loophole before the day had even ended. But, Lloyd did like chocolate… and he particularly like caramel.

"Fine, but I'm not kissing you first starting tomorrow," Lloyd huffed.

"Heh, you sound like a woman trying to start a diet," Zelos chuckled, waiting for Lloyd to lean in and get his half of the chocolate.

Not really getting the reference, Lloyd shrugged his shoulders and leaned in to take a bite of the chocolate Zelos had left out for him. Lloyd was initially just going to bite off as much as he could and pull away to savor the chocolate, but when he bit down, his lips brushed against Zelos's ever so softly, distracting the boy from the chocolate for a brief moment. He paused after chewing and swallowing the small morsel and stared at Zelos's lips that had a little bit of melted chocolate on them.

"I know you want it," Zelos teased.

Want it he did, and Lloyd swooped down on those lips like no tomorrow. Zelos had to admit, he liked when Lloyd initiated a kiss, but he absolutely loved the feeling of the boy's tongue feeling at every inch of his lips. Zelos was quick to act upon it too, as he opened his mouth so he could mash his tongue against the brunet's. Lloyd was a bit stunned at first, but melted right in when he tasted more caramel on the redhead's tongue.

The two went at it for a while, taking in as much flavor of the other as they could. Lloyd was quick to realize there was no more chocolate taste coming from Zelos, but he didn't pull away. He was starting to enjoy how Zelos would play with his tongue or reach past and explore as much of Lloyd's mouth as he could. Every moment the kiss was prolonged, Lloyd found his heart beating ever faster.

However, after a minute or two, Zelos stopped and pulled away, a more serious expression on his face. Lloyd pouted, disappointed the redhead had stopped so suddenly.

"Just… a question," Zelos stated, trying to keep a straight face. "Are… are you willing to do much else beyond, you know, kissing any time soon?"

Lloyd's brown eyes blinked owlishly, confused at what the question was supposed to mean.

"What do you mean?"

"You're so innocent, hun, you really are. Well, I mean like touching, or, er… something like a handjob… maybe even sex?" Zelos was nervous about the answer, but he desperately wanted to know the limitations he would have to put up with for a while. "I'm just asking cause I don't want to go too far with something too soon."

Zelos waited for an answer, but when Lloyd was reluctant to speak, Zelos felt he may have asked just a bit too soon. The redhead let out a sigh and scratched at his head.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"S… Sex?" Lloyd's eyes were wide. "Guys can… Guys can do that?"

Zelos just about fell over from the response.

"Of course they can!" Zelos frowned. "It's completely natural for two guys to have sex if they really want to. What did you think the extent of our intimacy would be? Having a tongue war over some candy?"

"Well, w-what kind of things can we do then?" Lloyd asked, dodging having to answer the question.

"You're lucky you're so flippin' cute. Anyways, so as you know now, we COULD have sex. We'll worry about how it works later, if we ever get to it. I've got the feeling by how wide your eyes got that you're probably a little skeptical on doing it. One of the basics would be kissing or making out, which we can definitely check off. Another would be touching or a handjob, like…" Zelos grabbed Lloyd's hand and put it on the crotch of his pants. There was a small 'meep' noise heard from Lloyd as Zelos released his hand so he could pull it back. "And that would be another no for a while apparently. Something else would be a blowjob. You know what that is?" Lloyd shook his head. "Oh my. Well, basically, where I just made you touch with your hand, you would do it with your mouth instead, or I could do it for you." Lloyd's eyes widened again. "We could also just sit around naked, just staring or something and enjoying each other's company…"

"They all sound so…" Lloyd paused, trying to think of the right word. "…dirty."

"That's probably because they are for the most part. I would be more than willing to show you how to do any of them of course. Though, I'm more than willing to wait to do any of that until you're absolutely certain your ready to try them," Zelos said, cupping his hand to Lloyd's face. "I would never want to force someone as precious as you into doing something you don't want to do."

Lloyd didn't say anything as a response that time. Instead, he placed a hand over the hand Zelos had place on his cheek and nuzzled into it. The tender action made Zelos smile once again as he brushed his thumb across the boy's face.

"I really like you, a lot," Lloyd murmured, casting his gaze directly into Zelos's eyes.

"Heh, well, I really like you a lot more my dear." Zelos felt his heart start fluttering again. "Could I possibly have one more kiss before the nights up? I'll do my best to be good for the rest of the week."

No more words were said as Lloyd leaned past Zelos's hand and placed a soft kiss on his boyfriend's lips. More satellites and shooting stars passed over their heads, but each one of them was too caught up in the other's company to notice.

%%%%%%%%%%

-At Lloyd's house-

"Will you get away from the window, Yuan?" Kratos called over to the pacing blunet. "It's only eight. Let Lloyd have fun with his friend. He'll be back when he gets back, be it later tonight or after work tomorrow."

"Nuuuhhh," Yuan groaned, ignoring Kratos and looking very intently out the window. "He hasn't replied to my texts."

"Yuan! Will you quit it?!" Kratos snapped at the man. "Honestly, Lloyd will be just FINE. Si tNow, get over here and finish your dinner that you begged me to help you with making."

The blunet was about to do his impatient groan again and completely disregard the man speaking to him once more, but Kratos would have no more of it. So, the auburn haired man pulled himself up from the couch, walked over to Yuan, grabbed his hand and dragged him back to where he'd been sitting. As soon as he'd sat the man down, he stood right back up in an attempt to go back to the window, making Kratos scowl dangerously at him.

More often than not, Yuan would do whatever it was that Kratos wanted when he was glared at like that. However, this time around, Yuan had entirely ignored the man, so this time, Kratos grabbed very tightly at Yuan's wrist and pulled him back down to sit next to him. Unfortunately, Kratos had managed to tug at Yuan just a little too hard and it resulted in Yuan falling over on top of him.

"Sit. Down. Stay," Kratos growled, making sure Yuan could see the intense look on his face that time around.

Having finally caught the seriousness in the other's voice, Yuan swallowed nervously and pulled himself off the man underneath him to take the spot he'd been previously sitting before he started worrying about Lloyd. He grabbed his plate and set it on his lap, taking a bit of his food.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just a little iffy about letting him hang out with Zelos so much like this," Yuan sighed.

"Why?"

"Why not? He's a major ladies man. He might, I don't know, start getting Lloyd into that kind of thing… sleeping around… or… something," Yuan said, beating around the bush as much as he could.

"I doubt Lloyd would let that sort of behavior rub off on him. He may not realize it, but he's actually terrified of trying anything sexual. If anyone so much as mentions how he should kiss some girl, it makes him extremely nervous. I can't imagine him trying anything else too serious to be honest," Kratos said, taking a quick bite of food. "Plus, from what I remember, Zelos makes sure to take care of his friends and make them as happy and comfortable as possible."

"What, he had actual friends?"

"Of course! What little kid his age as social as him didn't? Granted, he only had two of them, but that's beside the point. While I was helping his family to solve that murder case back when I first met him, he always had at least one of those tow friends nearby. Despite the whole fact that his mother had been killed, he somehow managed to keep as happy as happy could be and make sure his two friends were kept well entertained." Kratos paused to take another bite and motioned at Yuan to take a bite of his own food. "I'm actually glad Lloyd found someone like him to have as a friend. What Zelos does on his own time is his own business. I know he wouldn't try to lead Lloyd to do something like that."

Yuan let out a sigh, giving up on the conversation. "_If only knew the whole story. I'm sure you'd have a different opinion._"

As the two dropped the conversation and started to eat their food, Yuan could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket. Even though Kratos had thought he'd gotten Yuan to stop worrying about Lloyd, the blunet immediately pulled his phone out, nearly spilling his food in the process. Kratos sighed and picked up Yuan's food so he could get up and see what the text was.

Yuan just about fainted when he read the text.

/Can two guys really have sex with each other?/

"I'll be back in about half an hour," Yuan said suddenly, taking off for the door. Kratos wasn't going to have that however.

The redhead put his plate down on the table and sprung up to grab Yuan. At first, he'd just made a grab at the man's hand, but that didn't work too well since Yuan simply snapped his hand away from him. So Kratos tried stepping in front of him to block his path from the door. Yuan just walked around him, placing a hand on his shoulder as he did. Kratos muttered something profane under his breath as he went to his last option of stopping Yuan from leaving, which was tackling the man to the floor.

"Kratos?! What are you doing?!" Yuan exclaimed, surprised that Kratos had actually tackled him. "I've got to go… get…"

Yuan's words seemed to get lost in his throat midsentence as he noticed Kratos crawling up from his legs and up to his chest. Even though Kratos had a scary expression on his face, the fact that Kratos was getting so close to his face as he just laid on his chest caused Yuan to forget everything he was going to do. Those amber eyes, as angry as they were, started to make Yuan's lips curl up into a smile.

"You're not… going anywhere," Kratos growled, genuinely pissed off.

"Okay," Yuan smiled, staring gently back into Kratos's eyes.

The sudden change of mind caused Kratos to drop his jaw. He recovered quickly with an agitated sort of tantrum.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! What in the world made you change your mind like that?! JUST LIKE THAT?! HOW? What is WRONG with you!?" Kratos yelled, sitting up on Yuan's chest and tugging at the collar of the blunet's shirt, banging his head softly on the ground. "Why do you always do stuff like that?!"

"You have really pretty eyes," Yuan said, not having heard a single word Kratos had said from being too spaced out and focused on the color of Kratos's eyes. "I really like them."

"AAARRRGGGHHH! ARE YOU EVER GOING TO PAY ATTENTION TO ANYTHING I SAY TONIGHT?!" Kratos yelled.

The redhead was going to continue with his ranting at the man sitting underneath him when there was a sound of shattering glass. Quicker than Yuan could blink, Kratos had instantly took off to hide under the blanket on the couch. The man in hiding had even managed to grab his sword and take it under the blanket with him. Yuan sighed and got up from the floor to see what had happened.

It didn't take long to figure it out. From the back window, the glass had shattered inwards from a decent sized rock that was currently lying on the floor. Yuan went over to the window first to see if he could spot anyone outside. All he saw was Noishe barking insanely at something on the other side of the fence that was probably long gone at that point. So he went away from the window to pick up the rock. There was nothing on it, so Yuan sighed again and walked into the living room to comfort Kratos.

Upon walking out of the kitchen though, he saw something run past the front window in the living room, so Yuan dashed to the front door and looked around outside. He hadn't seen where the shadow had gone to so he went back towards the front door. Kratos had yelled out to him to not leave him by himself before he went outside, so Yuan wasn't going to abandon him with a broken window and an unlocked door. That was when he saw something on the outer part of the front door.

In white graffiti, there were words that spelt 'I'm coming for you next'. Yuan frowned at the door and growled at the words, even if they couldn't hear him.

"Kratos is not going to like this," he sighed, walking back inside and locking the door behind him. "Stupid ass kids trying to be… stupid… people. Hey, Kratos, I'm pretty sure they aren't here anymore. You can come out now."

Yuan walked into the living room to find Kratos barely peeking his face out from underneath the blanket while he stuck his sword out to make sure nothing came to close to him. The blunet frowned and walked over to his friend to and yanked the blankets completely off of him.

"You'll give away my position! Give my blanket back!" Kratos snapped at Yuan.

"They're gone. I even locked the door so they couldn't get in, okay? If anything happens anyway, I'll protect you, alright?" Yuan said, trying to pull Kratos up. "I won't be leaving, and if I do, I'll take you with me. I won't let anything happen."

Kratos grunted, a little embarrassed, but sat up trying to regain his composure. Just as Yuan was going to tell him about the door, there was a knock, spooking Kratos enough to lose the composure he'd regained and hide behind Yuan. Of course, Yuan didn't mind how Kratos used him to hide behind, but he needed to see who it was that was outside.

"I'll be right back," Yuan said, getting up from the couch. He saw Kratos pick his sword back up and hide behind it as well as a few pillows. Yuan shook his head and got to the door. "Who is it?"

"…It's me Lloyd?"

"And Zelos!"

Yuan swung the door open, walked outside, and closed the door behind him. A dark and sinister glare was immediately thrown down at the redheaded boy standing in front of him, making him swallow nervously and hide behind Lloyd. Lloyd blinked, a bit confused as to why Yuan had such a scary look on his face and why it was directed towards Zelos in such an intense manner.

"What's wrong?" Lloyd spoke up as he snuggled back up against Zelos's chest.

"I'll talk with you later about it. But you… YOU," Yuan stated, jabbing a finger in Zelos's face. "How could you corrupt his mind with your… your… corrupted… talk?!"

"Yuan, what are you talking about?" Lloyd frowned.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT?!" Yuan snapped, pulling his phone out and showing the text he'd received from Lloyd earlier that night.

As soon as Lloyd read the text, his brown eyes widened and his face flushed to a deep red. He turned around to punch Zelos in the arm and glare at him. Already knowing what had happened, Zelos laughed nervously, rubbing at his arm to sooth the sharp pain that was probably going to turn into a bruise.

"You told me you were just going to say hi!" Lloyd said loudly, pulling his phone out to look at the sent text message.

"Aw, come on, you have to admit not knowing about that was adorable," Zelos grinned, waggling his eyebrows. "By the way, Yuan, I didn't even explain anything in detail—"

"Except the blowjob thing," Lloyd blushed.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Yuan screamed, trying to reach past Lloyd and strangle Zelos. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU DEAD!"

"Ah, hah, hah, I can see this isn't going anywhere that I'm going to like. Could I have a good night kiss before I leave Lloyd?" Zelos casually asked.

"No," Lloyd said, frowning.

"What? Why?"

"Because of the text you sent."

"Oh, come on! Let me have just one little smooch on the cheek?" Zelos begged.

"No."

"Hunnyyyy," Zelos whined.

"And especially not for that nickname," Lloyd frowned.

Yuan had stopped his attempts at trying to severely maim Zelos to smile proudly at how Lloyd was standing his ground against the redhead. But the pride instantly disappeared when Zelos unexpectedly swooped to plant a quick kiss on Lloyd's lips. Before Yuan had any time to react at all, Zelos dashed off to the car Sebastian was waiting to drive him home in. He waved happily back at Lloyd, blew a few airkisses and said goodnight. Lloyd shyly waved back and turned to Yuan.

After Yuan was done throwing obscene gestures at the redhead, he looked down at Lloyd and heaved out a sigh. He pat Lloyd on the head and ruffled his hair as he opened the door to let him inside.

"Did you have any dinner?" Yuan asked.

"Yeah, Zelos brought some food out for our picnic." Lloyd paused his speaking for a moment as Yuan lead him into the living room. "By the way, uh, why does the door have paint on it that says 'I'm coming for you next'?"

There was a loud thud that startled Lloyd. Yuan groaned, clearly agitated.

Kratos had fainted and was now passed out on the floor having fallen off the couch.

%%%%%%%%%%

-Later that night-

Not much was explained to Lloyd about his dad randomly fainting, but Lloyd didn't mind too much. It simply meant, for the time being anyways, that Yuan would be too distracted with Kratos to try and bug Lloyd about not texting him back or what they'd done that night, even though it wasn't too much of anything according to Zelos. Even so, if Yuan had found out that Zelos had asked him about wanting to try stuff later down the road, Zelos wouldn't know what hit him.

Lloyd sighed. It'd already been an hour since he'd gotten home and he was already finding himself wanting to send a text to or call his boyfriend. He held back the urge though, seeing as he was supposed to be 'punishing' Zelos for the announcement of their relationship at school and for sending that text to Yuan. Every once in a while though, Lloyd would find himself glancing over at his phone as he was watching television in his room, hoping Zelos would send something so he could respond to it.

Another thirty minutes passed, and his phone didn't so much as give off a sound. He pouted and turned off the tv since he was starting to get tired. Lloyd picked up his phone and set any alarms down to vibrate so he wouldn't be woken up from his much needed sleep.

As he closed his eyes, he smiled at how the night had transpired. Well before he and Zelos had gotten more intense with being in each other's company, Zelos had first helped the brunet finish his homework and then brought him into his closet upstairs to choose another outfit out for Lloyd to wear that night. Initially, Lloyd thought Zelos was taking him to some sort of restaurant, which had caused the boy to get a little nervous. He didn't exactly want more people to know about their relationship right away. But when he heard that Sebastian was taking them out of town to go on a picnic, Lloyd's worries seemed to melt away.

While they were driving in the car, Zelos started to go on and on about how the teachers at school had been so utterly shocked that he was seriously dating someone. The conversation made Lloyd smile with a small hint of pride for dating someone who was labeled as not serious when it came to relationships.

Soon after they reached their destination, Sebastian told them he was going to run off and do some grocery shopping as well as run a few other errands, so he left the boys to do as they pleased. Lloyd giggled at remembering how eager Zelos was to have fun with him.

Lloyd was just starting to drift off to sleep when he heard his phone go off beside him. He pulled himself up from his pillow, rubbed his eyes and grabbed his phone to see who it was calling him. His eyes brightened up when he saw it was Zelos. Lloyd was quick to answer.

"Hey," Lloyd said, smiling into the phone.

"How're you doin' sexy?" Zelos asked teasingly.

"I'm fine. What're you doing calling so late? I would've thought you'd be in bed already."

"I'm in bed, I just can't really get to sleep."

"Why not?" Lloyd asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

"After being able to snuggle up to you last night, it's hard to try and find that kind of comfort without you hear, even if my bed is super comfortable," Zelos whined, making Lloyd blush a bit. "You're just so warm and it's so nice to be able to hold someone as comfy as you for a whole night."

Lloyd listened to Zelos go on for a few more minutes, and as he did, Lloyd reached under the bed and grabbed the Chosen cologne and sprayed it once onto his pillow. A smile slid onto his face as he placed the cologne back under his bed and grabbed the pillow to snuggle it to his face to inhale the scent.

"Hey, Zelos?" Lloyd spoke up.

"Yeah, Bud?"

"Uhm, do you think…" Lloyd couldn't find the words to put together to make up the question he wanted to ask.

"Do I think what, hun?" Zelos asked, already sensing the serious air about the question. "You can ask me absolutely anything."

For a few minutes, Lloyd opened and closed his mouth wordlessly, thinking for a moment he had put together the right words, but he would find he hadn't done so. Zelos just waited patiently for Lloyd to say something, encouraging him every so often to not be so worried about whatever it was he wanted to ask.

"Do you think… we could…" And Lloyd just couldn't ask the question. "I-I'm sorry, never mind."

"Oh, Lloyd, you were so close too! Ah," Zelos said, sighing, "don't worry about it too much, whatever it is. Whatever happens, will happen, regardless of whether or not we plan on it, okay? I'm happy where we're at right now, Lloyd, so don't worry about anything, alright?"

"A…alright," Lloyd said, a pout on his lips. "Well, anyways—"

"Lloyd." The brunet instantly paused. "You're perfect… in everyway. Don't try to change because of anything… and don't force yourself into something you don't want to do, okay? I just want you to be happy."

Lloyd felt his heart skip a beat as Zelos finished his sentence. The two sat in an almost awkward silence for the next minute or two, but after a while, Zelos was the one to break the silence.+

"I bet you're tired, Bud. Why don't I let you get some sleep? I'll see you tomorrow morning at school, okay?" Zelos said.

"Do you think we could try something this coming Friday?" Lloyd quickly spoke.

"… What kind of something?"

"Ma-maybe something you asked about earlier…" Lloyd's face was getting extremely hot.

"If you want to, we can see what you think about it on Friday and decide what we'll do then, okay?" Zelos said, a smile on his face. "But Lloyd, I'm serious. When Friday comes and you change your mind, there's nothing wrong with that. I want to make sure you're ready before we take anything on that could be too serious for you."

"O-okay…"

"I'll see you tomorrow at school, Bud. Goodnight… sweet dreams," Zelos said.

"Goodnight," Lloyd replied, hanging up the phone.

Once again, the boy grabbed his pillow and brought it to his chest. He could feel his heart racing near to a hundred miles an hour. He was wondering why he'd actually asked that question. Maybe it was because Zelos had asked him a similar question earler that night, but the more Lloyd thought about it, the more he thought it might've been because he didn't want to disappoint Zelos. After all, Zelos had been in plenty of relationships before he'd ever met Lloyd, and he knew that the redhead had done plenty of sexual things with almost all of them. Lloyd didn't want Zelos to get too bored with him just because the brunet wanted to wait to try something as a couple. Sure, Zelos had said they could wait and it wouldn't be a problem, but Lloyd had a feeling Zelos might've been saying that to make Lloyd feel better.

"I wanna make him happy too. I don't deserve to be the only one that's happy," Lloyd muttered and cuddled down on the bed on his pillow to attempt to get some sleep. "I hope I'll be able to make him happier than he's ever been with anyone else."

It wasn't long before Lloyd fell into a deep, thoughtful sleep. There were many visions of what had occurred that night that followed him into his dreams, but Lloyd didn't mind too much.

%%%%%%%%%%

-Downstairs-

Yuan was having the most difficult time trying to calm Kratos down enough to just get him to sit down without his sword by his side. He'd already waved Lloyd off so Kratos would be more comfortable talking to him, but that only seemed to make matters worse. As soon as Lloyd's door had shut, Kratos wanted to tell him to keep the door open so if someone snuck in through his window, it wouldn't be too hard to run out. Thankfully, Yuan had relaxed Kratos enough to get him to stop worrying about Lloyd. Now his focus was just calming him down all together so they could get some sleep.

Sleep seemed like it was very far off though at the rate Kratos was going.

"Kratos, please, I'm sure you're tired," Yuan said, a desperate tone in his voice. "We've moved my bed in, so let's get going to bed, alright? It'll be a lot more comfy than this couch has been."

"But that person… he's still out there somewhere. He's probably waiting for me to fall asleep so he can sneak in through the broken window and… I can't even imagine it!" Kratos said, pacing around the couch with his sword sheathed at his side. "What if he was to sneak in and hurt Lloyd or you!? How could Lloyd recover from something like that?"

"… Kratos."

"Oh my Goddess, how WOULD he? He would be scarred for life! I couldn't ever repair something as horrendous as that! I'd be such a terrible parent if I let something like that happen to him," Kratos said, picking up the speed in his pacing.

"Kratos."

"I have to stand guard all night! Even if I have to sacrifice myself for my son, I will do so as long as he doesn't hur—"

"KRATOS!" Yuan snapped, standing up from the couch.

The redhead stopped his pacing and stared at the blunet. It was rare that Yuan would ever raise his voice at him, so Kratos stopped what he was doing so it wouldn't happen again. Kratos had never been at the end of the stick of Yuan being truly upset, but he didn't want that to change right then and there because he was needlessly worrying.

"Everyone, and I mean it, Kratos, EVERYONE will be just fine. If it will make you feel any better, I'll take tomorrow off to stay with you so your mind can be put at ease over this silly little thing," Yuan spoke, staring directly into Kratos's auburn eyes. "Now please, I would like to go to bed. You need sleep. I am not going to let some stupid ass teenager scare the living daylights out of you because he felt like defacing some random person's property."

Yuan walked over to Kratos and nudged him in the direction of the stairway after taking away his blade. Kratos was very hesitant at first, reaching for his sword and not moving an inch in the way Yuan wanted him to. But when Kratos managed to notice the sincerely unhappy look in Yuan's eyes, he sighed and started walking off to the stairs with slow, paced steps. Every once in a while, he'd try and take a glance back at his sword laying on the ground, but every time that happened, Yuan stepped in his line of view to block what he was trying to see.

Finally, Yuan had gotten Kratos to start walking up the stairs, and once he'd gotten there, it didn't take long for the man to get all the way to the top. When he did, he looked back to see how far Yuan was behind him. The blunet simply sighed and hurried up the stairs to make sure Kratos didn't start having his mini spazz attack again. Once he got up the stairs, Kratos continued on past his and Lloyd's rooms to get to the guest bedroom they'd put all of Yuan's belongings in.

"Look at that, a nice comfy bed just waiting for you to get into it and fall asleep," Yuan smiled, wrapping an arm casually around the redhead's shoulders and closing the door behind them. "And it looks like it's much bigger than that space on the couch so we'll be able to sleep without worrying about me getting you all sweaty."

Kratos's face flushed as he looked up to Yuan and shoved at him. Yuan blinked a few times, confused as to why Kratos reacted that particular way. He repeated the sentence he'd just said to Kratos a few times in his head and it finally hit him.

"Oh, y-you know it's not in that sort of way! Get into bed you little pervy perv," Yuan teased, smacking his friend once on the back to get him to step forward twice. "Bedtime."

At long last, Kratos finally listened to Yuan and walked over to the rather large bed and laid down in it. As soon as he did, Kratos smiled and curled up under the mountain of blankets and pillows that had belonged to Yuan. The blunet grinned, knowing Kratos had a bit of a weakness when it came to being covered in comfortable objects, which was probably the reason why Kratos would immediately go to hide under a blanket if something spooked him.

Yuan took his eyes off Kratos for a moment to take his shirt off and find some pajama shorts to sleep in. And of course, Kratos was too distracted by the feather pillows to really notice what the blunet was doing, and that made Yuan chuckle softly to himself. So before Kratos looked up to see where Yuan was, he quickly removed his jeans and boxers in one swift motion and slid on the black pajama shorts he'd found. He then walked over to the bed to sit down next to Kratos.

The auburn haired man peeked out from underneath the blankets, a small smile on his lips. Yuan smiled back and then laid down beside him to grab him along with all the blankets and roll Kratos over on top of him. The blankets squirmed as Kratos thrashed about, trying to get out of the blankets as well as the grasp Yuan had him in.

"Yuan! Let me go!" Kratos pleaded, managing to stick an arm out from his blanket cocoon and shoving it in Yuan's face. That only made the older man start laughing and secure Kratos in place by wrapping his legs around the lower part of the blanket. "I'm serious, Yuan! Let go of me! If I somehow get out of this—"

But the sentence couldn't be finished because Yuan had snaked a hand through the folds and flaps of the blankets trapping Kratos to start tickling the trapped man. And since Yuan had known Kratos for as long as he had, finding the most sensitive spots wasn't too difficult of a task. Before long, Kratos was howling with laughter, barely being able to make out one word to three word sentences, such as "stop", "I can't breathe, and "kill you".

About a minute or two later, Yuan decided it would be best to stop. He didn't want Kratos to hold too much of a grudge against him and try to smother him in his sleep. Loud gasps were heard as Kratos tried to regain his lost breath and stick more of his body out of the blankets other than just his arm. Once he was done getting his breath back, he stuck his head back out and turned it to glare at his friend, who was still holding him in a secure position.

"That… was entirely uncalled for," Kratos panted. "Would you let me out of the blankets? It's getting hot."

"You're not going to beat me up are you?" Yuan chuckled.

"Even though you rightfully deserve it? No. I'd like to get into comfier clothes if you don't mind," he grunted, wriggling in the blanket some.

So Yuan released him from his grasp and sat up on the side of the bed. The redhead instantly popped up out of the covers and jumped out of the bed, just in case Yuan had changed his mind about letting him go. But when Yuan didn't make any sudden advancements, Kratos straightened his clothes and hair out and stood up a little straighter. He then stuck his tongue out at the man smiling innocently at him on the bed and exited the room to go get some pajamas.

"_So cute,_" Yuan thought, getting further onto the bed and closer to the wall the bed was pushed against. "_Zelos doesn't realize just how lucky he is. I'd give anything to compliment or swoon over Kratos for being so adorably cute. _"

It wasn't long before Kratos returned to the room, wearing a black skin tight tank top and some loose pajama pants. Yuan quickly averted his eyes so he wouldn't cause any awkward tension for staring too long at the man he so deeply admired. But the gaze didn't stay averted for too long because Kratos crawled into the bed and randomly pinned the blunet down at his wrists.

The position Yuan was in had him staring rather perplexed. He was wondering why Kratos was pinning him down and staring so intensely at him. Yuan swallowed, trying to control his breathing as well as the lower region of his body. He didn't need that reacting and creeping Kratos out to the point of not wanting to sleep in the same bed anymore.

"Is there something you need?" Yuan asked as coolly as possible.

But Kratos didn't answer. He just stared deep into Yuan's eyes. It was almost as if he was searching for something, but he couldn't find it.

"Uh, Kratos?"

"… I really like your hair," Kratos said suddenly.

"B-But you weren't even looking at my hair!" Yuan stammered.

"…" A small blush found its way to Kratos's cheeks, making Yuan smirk.

"What is it? What's so suddenly got your attention, Kratos?"

"It… It's nothing! I just wanted this spot that you're in! I don't want to sleep in the spot closest to the door or the window," Kratos frowned, quickly getting off of Yuan to turn of the light to the room and then squish himself between the blunet and the wall. "Now scoot over. I've got no room over here."

"Jeez, I was only wondering why you had such an… _intense_ stare," Yuan teased, poking once at Kratos's side.

"It's time for bed Yuan. Are you going to move over or not?"

"Fine, fine, I'm moving."

And just like he said he would, Yuan moved over and gave Kratos more room to sleep. He felt the redhead moving around to find a more comfy sleeping position as he settled down once, facing away from Kratos to face the door. Yuan figured Kratos would be more comfortable if someone was able to see the door or window if something were to happen. However, it seemed Kratos was having a difficult time getting comfortable, seeing as the he would move every two minutes or so.

"You doing okay over there, Kratos?" Yuan spoke up.

"Yeah," Kratos said, a hint of finality in his voice.

Yuan shrugged, thinking the man would get comfy eventually. The thought slowly disappeared though since after a little less then an hour had passed, Kratos was still shuffling around uncomfortably. The blunet had even heard a groan of dissatisfaction or two as he continued moving about.

Quite suddenly, Yuan felt two arms wrap themselves around his waist. Yuan's eyes widened ins surprise as he tried to turn his head over to see what it was Kratos was doing. He wasn't able to see much though since the room was dark and Kratos had buried his face into Yuan's backside. The blunet could feel the heat emanating from the man's face, leaving him to only imagine just how red Kratos was.

"Well this is new," Yuan chuckled. "I don't think you've ever held me."

"I-if you don't like it, I can turn the other way," Kratos said softly.

"No… Don't," Yuan said near to a whisper. "I… really like it."

"Well good, cause I'm really comfy."

There was a long silence that followed Kratos's words. Yuan tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind. So, he wrapped his arms around the smaller arms encasing him to pull Kratos closer to him and smiled.

"Goodnight, Yuan," Kratos muttered, already half asleep. Yuan felt Kratos's arms hug him tighter for a brief and then relax.

"Goodnight…," Yuan trailed off.

Yuan stared off at nothing in particular, a few random thoughts running through his mind. He could already feel Kratos's breath slowing as he fell asleep and started lightly snoring against the nape of his neck. He found it hard to sleep for some reason, so he continued to stare blankly at the wall that sat on the opposite side of the room.

Then, out of absolutely no where, Kratos began to sleep talk.

"Yu… Yuan… Don't… leave me…," Kratos said rather softly. "Need… I need… you…"

All thoughts came to a very sudden halt as Yuan continued to listen to Kratos mumble against his neck. He couldn't help but to smile. It was almost as if he'd drank something completely loaded with sugar and his mouth just reacted with a wide, toothy grin.

"So impor… You're… so important… to… me," Kratos continued to murmur. Yuan felt his chest being hugged at a little tighter. "I… really li…"

But the talking stopped there, not that Yuan really cared. The mere idea that Kratos was dreaming about him was more than enough to set his mind at ease. Yuan snuggled back against Kratos, and he heard a content sigh as he did.

"_Goddess, I love you so much, Kratos. I only wish that I could tell you that out loud,_" Yuan thought. "_… If he's deep enough asleep…_"

"I…" The words held themselves back in Yuan's throat. Even though he knew Kratos was asleep, it was still difficult for him to simply say the three words he'd longed to say in the redhead's presence. "Heh, it's still really hard to say, even when you won't be able to remember it." Yuan's voice was lowered so much that he himself could barely hear it. "It's… still to hard to get out. Ever since Anna came along… you loved her so much, I can hardly bear to try and steal that love away from her…"

Yuan found himself biting back tears. He curled up, pulling his legs to his chest and held them in place with his arms. Kratos absentmindedly followed the action by bending his legs up behind him to stay comfortable.

"I… I can't. I just can't," Yuan whispered, holding back a sob. "I can't be selfish."

"Smile…," Kratos spoke up again, nuzzling his face into Yuan's hair. "… Smile because… it's contagious… Make him happy… him… happy… He needs it… from you… It's… okay…"

"…Anna?" Yuan asked, baffled at the sleep talk.

But Kratos didn't answer. He simply sleep grunted and snuggled his body closer to Yuan's and momentarily squeezed his arms tighter against the blunet. The squeeze made Yuan accidentally let out a small whimper he'd been trying to bite back. The louder noise stirred Kratos some, making the man shift and peek over at Yuan.

"Mmm'are you'kay?" Kratos asked, obviously still half asleep.

"Yeah," Yuan lied.

"Liar," Kratos grunted, flopping his chin over on top of Yuan and laying on the larger man's side. "Wha's wrong…?"

"… It's nothing," Yuan lied again.

"Please teellll? I'lll give ya somethin' real nice," Kratos grinned.

This time, Yuan didn't answer. Instead, he let Kratos lay as he was and fall asleep, even though it looked fairly uncomfortable. Yuan glanced over to the face that was now resting on his arm and bit at his lip. That sleeping face was one of his major weaknesses.

"… _Just one wouldn't hurt, right?_" Yuan thought to himself.

Yuan, very slowly as to not wake Kratos up again, leaned up and over to plant a very small, but very gentle kiss on Kratos's lips, pretending he was either a ghost or part of the dream the redhead was dreaming. He then quickly went back to lying down and staring very intently at the wall. As he stared, he felt Kratos's cheeks raise against his arm in a smile, resulting in a smile from Yuan as well.

"Goodnight," Yuan sighed happily, closing his eyes at long last to allow sleep to take hold.

End of Chapter 11

I hope you all enjoyed it! I can't wait to see you in the next chapter! Don't forget to review! I have cookies for those that do! :D  
PS :: If any cavities happened to randomly pop up in your mouth while reading this, please consult you nearest dentist to get that fixed O.O Cavities are bad. Get them gone so you won't be in pain for the next chapter.

-Review of the … it hasn't really been a week… derp –

Jazzimonster ::  
DDD'''': Oh my gosh, reading that review this morning almost made me cry! I remember starting this story in one of our classes and planning stuff out with you on what I should put in it! I frikkin miss those days! D'X I can't wait til Xmas. :'3 I'll be able to write with you once more for at least two weeks! *hugglz* I love and miss you so frikkin much Jazz! DX You are the best friend anyone could ever ask for! I'm so glad that even after I delayed posting anything for the longest time that you still enjoy reading my story just as much as you did when I first started. QuQ Go Zelloyd 4eva and eternity! *smotherz with hugz of love*


	12. Chaptero doce

Chapter 12  
The New Job

Author :: banANNU

Rated :: M

**-review responses to the people who inspire me most!-**

DennyTribal ::  
I'm so happy that you're able to go to school again x3 I wish you the best of luck for the upcoming years! I'll be here to support you the whole time!  
I'm so glad you liked the last chapter though! :'D I tried my hardest to make a chapter with just fluff in it, mainly because the drama needed to be set aside for at least a chapter :3 …And then all mass up into this one. O.e Oh dear. At least after this chapter, Kratos and Yuan will be able to be one step closer to finally being together! :D Once that happens, there will be some wonderful Kruan goodness. BWAHAHAHAHA~  
OH! :D You're going to hate me for the end of this chapter by the way… well, maybe not hate, but at least want to smack me upside the head… hehehe, don't hurt me too bad, okay :'D ? I still have to finish up your birthday present.

ZaphiraX ::  
I'm so happy you loved it ^^ I figured I would get a much needed fluffy chapter out. This chapter is a _bit_ more dramatic than the last one though, so I hope you still like it :'D I feel so happy when I see reviews like yours! :'''D Thank you so much for your support.

LadyLovelessofTheives ::  
Thank you so much for reviewing! I'm glad that you've enjoyed reading it so far! I hope that you'll enjoy the next chapter ^^ *gives a cookie of friendship* I will continue to share as much as I can so I can keep you happy :D

MischievousWolf66 ::  
XDD rotflmao, it's all good. Maybe Phoenix accidentally slipped something into what you were drinking too O.o *pats head* and don't worry too much about the grammer xD it happens when we are sleep deprived my friend xD haha, maybe you should get some sleep before you read my story? *gives a slice of cake* :'D Or maybe some more sugar to make sure you're awake xD  
Hahahaha! Lloyd will learn very soon x3 And I can't wait for it to happen to be totally honest D'x It will be wonderful!  
-catchez Wolfie- O.O you must be careful… Zelos is starting to get protective…  
Zelos :: -givez nannu the "crazy eye"- O_e *twitch twitch*  
nannu :: O n O Oh dear. Anyways, Zelos will remember everything when the time comes ):D Action will be soon… just don't kill me by the time this chapter ends x'D I just hope you'll enjoy it. :'3 I can't wait to see what you think of it… even if it's a little more serious than the last one D':  
Enjoy!  
PS :: Happy early birthday! :D *gives a slice of cake* :3 I hope this chapter is a good early gift if I don't get the next one out before your birthday Dx

Raen Riddle ::  
x3 I can't blame Zelos for being a perv around cute little Lloyd though xD I wouldn't be able to resist if I were him, lol. I'm so glad you enjoy reading my story though :'D I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well! I'm not sure I would be able to handle Emil in my story for very long though xD That's too much emotions for me all at once :'D

Jazzimonster ::  
xD and I thought I was lazy! Silly Jazzi, trix are for kids! I love when you review though, even if I tell you my response as soon as you post it, or let me know that you post it.  
And even though I already told you, I have to say it again… my mother would be so proud if she found out I wanted to be an erotica author instead of an art teacher xDD You're probably not going to be too happy with me on this chapter, but… at least you'll love me for the next chapter :'D I can't wait to start writing my 100 chapter story for you ):D YEAH! We need to come up with a few more ideas and make sure it'll last a solid 100 chapters * ^ * Can't wait to see you in a month… planning will soon commence!  
Love you WAAAY moar! :D

**-review if you would like to see your response in the next chapter! :D-**

banANNU :: Happy birthday to me, _three days ago,_ happy birthday to me, _three days ago_—

Jazzimonster :: YOU'RE OLD :D

banANNU :: O n O but I'm as old as you are…

Jazzimonster :: NOW WE'RE BOTH OLD! *handz over a fake mustache, beard and a cane* :D

banANNU :: O n O oh dear… Well, since I'm so old, I'm feeling a little lazy with the disclaimer again xD I don't own Tales of Symphonia, nor any of it's character. I am not making money by writing this fiction.

Jazzimonster :: NOW GET IN YOUR ROCKER AND LET'S YELL AT ALL THE YOUNG PEOPLE TO GET OFF OF OUR LAWN!

banANNU :: We don't own a lawn…

Jazzimonster :: = n = Get in your rocker, NOW!

banANNU :: O.o -getz in rocker-

Jazzimonster :: -shakez walking cane at a random squirrel passing by- GET OFF MAH LAWN YOU STOOPID KIDS!

banANNU :: ^^;;; enjoy guys!

VARNING :: This chapter is considerably more serious than the last one. O n O Please be prepared for the transition from cute, adorable, make-your-teeth-fall-out-after-reading-it fluffiness into punch-you-in-the-gut serious… okay, maybe not that serious, but you're probably not going to like me for how the duration of this chapter goes. TTATT;;;

Enjoy!  
Chapter 12

Lloyd woke up that morning with a bad feeling about how long the day was going to be. He couldn't place his finger on why though. Maybe it was because he woke up with a crick in his neck and almost fell off his bed, or maybe it was because he slammed the bathroom door on one of his fingers as well as jammed his toe at the bottom of the door. The one that stood out to him most though was the text he received from Zelos saying that he wasn't going to be at school until lunch time came around due to some unexpected family business. It didn't matter though. All he knew was that he needed to get up and get to school, regardless of any silly premonitions he thought he was having.

He did notice, after he was done getting ready, that Yuan seemed to be in a particularly good mood as he greeted him to wake him up and as he was serving a quick breakfast of eggs, bacon, and pancakes. He also noticed his father seemed fairly happy as well. The initial thought as to why brought a brief disgusted look to Lloyd's face. It was his father after all, so he couldn't exactly picture him doing anything with anyone, regardless if that someone was male or female. But he quickly brushed that thought away when Yuan did his usually goodbye with a wave to Kratos as he lead Lloyd out the door.

When the two got into the car, Yuan turned to Lloyd as the brunet buckled himself in. Lloyd quickly noticed that the happy expression Yuan had been wearing just moments earlier, had been completely wiped away and replaced with a much more serious look. The brunet let out a low sigh, already knowing the conversation that was about to begin.

"So, what was that whole text about? I already know Zelos sent it, but by the sounds of it, you guys were definitely talking about some fairly detailed things," Yuan said, tapping his fingers absentmindedly at the steering wheel.

"It, uh, it wasn't anything, really. We, er, well, I was, wh—"

"Lloyd," Yuan frowned, stopping the boy from going any further. "If you lie to me, don't be surprised to find a surprise waiting for you in the middle of your dinner for the next week or two. I'm living with you now, so don't think I'll just forget about it because I have somewhere else besides work to go, which I don't, so you'd better be telling me the truth."

The brunet growled, furrowing his eyebrows together, clearly agitated, and hit his head against the side of the window. His day was only beginning and he was already regretting not feigning some sort of illness that was bad enough to keep him from going to school. Not that it would've been much better if he hadn't gone anyways, since Yuan would've stayed home the whole day, just like he'd promised Kratos at the breakfast table.

"We were just talking," Lloyd sighed, not wanting to go into detail about how he and his boyfriend had been making out for sometime that night. "Somehow, it got to Zelos asking me if I would be willing to try things any time soon. I didn't know what he meant, so I asked." Yuan started the car, and Lloyd could feel his face burning up. "It's not like he was going to force me into doing anything I didn't want to do right away though. He told me he didn't want to do anything like that if I wasn't ready."

"In all honesty, I'm not too terribly concerned about you getting into that kind of stuff," Yuan said, pulling out of park and starting to drive out of the neighborhood. "I'm worried that he's going to do something to you that you don't want, even if he says he doesn't want to do that right now. I mean, if he's describing these things to you in great enough detail, it sort of concerns me. I know very well that he goes in and out of relationships like you go through your underwear, so I'm concerned he's not going to be able to hold out for too terribly long, even if he says he's willing to wait. That boy has a sex drive like none other, and I'm sure it won't be long before he's trying to convince you into doing something, even if you said no not but two minutes earlier… and I'm afraid you'd give in and let him."

"I know how to stand my ground and keep saying 'no', Yuan," Lloyd frowned, leaning his head on his hand to lean on the side of the car door.

"I know that from experience. You're very stubborn," Yuan chuckled. "However, you don't know what you'll say when the time actually comes around. You may just want to try to please him so he doesn't get bored with you, and you'll just go with it, even if you don't want to. You've never been in a relationship, Lloyd. People change when they're around someone they really like."

"You never do around Dad," Lloyd pointed out. "You've always been the same. What makes me any different?"

"I've known your dad since we were kids. That's different. I've developed my personality because of him, and since I've been around him for so long, the way I am when I'm around him is just how I am," Yuan sighed. "Just… be careful, okay Lloyd? Zelos is notorious for having a relationship just for sex and then abandoning the person as soon as it happens. I don't want you to know the feeling of just being left behind. It's a horrible feeling…"

Lloyd was going to come back with something, just so Yuan wouldn't win the conversation, but when the boy noticed the fleeting look of sadness on the blunet's face, he kept his mouth shut. There was something about that look that made Lloyd wonder why he'd even had that look to begin with. To his knowledge, Yuan had always been completely dedicated to his father, even when his mother came along. He didn't think there was a chance that someone could've hurt him enough to make that expression when talking of someone leaving the other behind. Then again, Lloyd didn't know much about Yuan before he'd been born, so maybe something had happened then.

"All I'm saying is when you don't want something, please stand by that and make sure he knows it. He seems to really like you a lot, enough to want to keep you really happy, but like I said, he's got the sex drive of a rabbit, so don't count on him to hold out for too terribly long, okay?" Yuan spoke up again.

There was only a nod as Lloyd's response as he stared blankly out the window and wishing time would get by faster so he could just get the day over with. For most of the car ride, a heavy silence hung over the two, and for some reason, Lloyd preferred it that way. He didn't want to talk about the night before and slip up about the conversation he'd had with Zelos before he'd gone to bed. If Yuan found out about that, Lloyd knew the blunet wouldn't allow it and he'd make sure he was at home for the day. The silence had almost lasted the whole rest of the way to school, but Yuan felt the need to mention something just a few minutes before he pulled in.

"You're really lucky Lloyd," Yuan spoke quietly.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd grumbled, a little upset the silence had been broken.

"You're lucky that you're young. You can make mistakes and learn from them without much consequence," Yuan sighed. "I miss those days."

"Just because you're older doesn't mean you can't make mistakes anymore," Lloyd said, still glancing impatiently out the window. "You can still learn, no matter how old you are." The brunet turned to Yuan. "You can take your chances with something you want to try as well. I hear the older you are, the better you can handle things, even if something goes wrong."

Those words caught Yuan off guard, leaving room for him to quiet down and think on them a little. Though Lloyd had a tendency to be a tad slow when it came to fairly basic concepts that anyone could understand, there were definitely instances when he would say just the right thing that needed to be said in a more difficult conversation.

Yuan wanted to have something to say in response, but he was just then pulling into the school, and he clearly noticed Lloyd perk up in anticipation on wanting to get out. So, he kept his mouth shut and said a quick goodbye to Lloyd as he exited the door. As usual, Lloyd didn't respond. Instead, he bolted out the door, looking for Sheena.

That was when Yuan caught a familiar glimpse of black and silver standing amongst a crowd of students. But as quickly as he had seen it, the colors disappeared without a trace. Yuan blinked a few times, shaking off a bad feeling that was coming over him. As far as he could tell, he'd just imagined it. That mop of hair had never been there, and it never would be in a place like this. Still, he couldn't help but feel something bad was about to happen and there wasn't going to be anything he could do about it.

The blunet pulled out of the school, just as he did for the past week and a half though, not wanting impatient parents to start honking their horns at him for sitting in idle for too long for their liking. Before he pulled all the way out of the parking lot though, he took one last glimpse back, just to make sure it wasn't his imagination. When he saw nothing once more, he just sighed and drove off, praying to Martel that the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach was just the bacon getting to him.

%%%%%%%%%%

For about ten minutes, Lloyd franticly looked around, hoping to spot Sheena. He had the feeling that he just needed someone he knew close by, just in case something else bad was to happen before school had even started. All his searching was in vain however, which resulted in him growling to himself and walking off to chill out on a wall no one had yet claimed that morning.

For some reason, Lloyd felt more than the usual amount of eyes pressing down on him that morning, making him feel a little on edge. Every time he would cast his eyes up towards other people, it seemed that no one else would be looking in his direction, only making the feeling he had worsen. Lloyd rubbed at his head, feeling a headache coming on. He hoped that was the reason he wasn't feeling too great. The thought of hundreds of people watching him was starting to get overwhelming to the point he just wanted to disappear.

Then, quite unexpectedly, Lloyd noticed a group of three boys walking up in his direction. He figured that they were going to walk right past him as most of the other students did, but when he saw they were staring straight at him, he threw them a casual friendly smile that he would give anyone he wasn't fully familiar with.

"Uh, hi," Lloyd spoke up when the trio had finally stopped in front of him.

"You're Lloyd, right?" the one that appeared to be the leader asked. He had bright blond hair, that had almost shone white, and piercing blue eyes that held a certain air of hostility in them, very much the opposite of Zelos's.

"Yeah, why do you wanna know?" Lloyd asked a little nervously. He noticed that the two other boys each stood by Lloyd, as if they were keeping him from getting away. "Who are you anyways?"

"You're the one that's dating Zelos right now, right?" the boy asked, not taking the time to answer Lloyd's question.

"And what if I am?" Lloyd frowned, picking up his bag that he'd thrown to the floor. He wasn't liking the way this group was cornering him against the wall with no room to get away.

"Charles, Matt, get him and follow me," the blond spoke, whirling around to start walking off.

Before Lloyd had much of a chance to react, the two known as Charles and Matt grabbed at Lloyd's arms, one of them having torn the brunet's bag out of Lloyd's hands and threw it over their own shoulder. Lloyd wasn't going to have this happen this morning. So Lloyd shoved at the boy on his right, successfully getting his right arm free, and then kneed at the other's stomach. However, instead of being released, the one on his left simply grabbed Lloyd by the collar of his shirt and forced him against a nearby wall. The brunet had all the wind knocked out of him.

There were a few gasps and shrieks here and there, as well as whispers that a fight was going to break out, but Lloyd didn't want to fight against three different people. He knew he could handle, with a little bit of difficulty, two people, but when it came to three, it was suddenly too much to handle. It seemed though that escape from this group wasn't going to be an option.

As soon as he recovered his lost breath, the boy Lloyd had managed to knock away returned and grabbed at the brunet's hair and pulled him from the wall, staring dangerously at him with emerald eyes. Lloyd made a reach for his back pack that the green eyed boy was carrying, but that was rewarded with the larger boy, who'd shoved him against the wall, throwing him to the ground while green eyes was still clutching to Lloyd's hair. Lloyd let out a sharp cry of pain as he was picked up from the ground almost immediately by his hair and was greeted with the cold, nameless, blue eyes.

"You should watch yourself, brat," the boy said, a slick grin sliding onto his face. The fact that there was no hint of anger made Lloyd shiver. "Now, you'd better follow me like a good boy, and this will be done faster than you think."

"Let go of me!" Lloyd finally spoke up, hoping a teacher or the principal would come by to help him. The only ones who heard his cry though were students, too interested in what was going to happen to run and get any help.

"Get him in the bathroom, Matt," the blond said to the boy who'd thrown him to the ground. "Make sure no one else gets in there, and if there's anyone in there already, make sure they get out."

Lloyd could feel the grip on his hair release, but he was soon grabbed at all the way around his chest and lifted off the ground, leaving his arms immobile as they were pinned to his sides. From what he could see, there was no one in the bathroom, and Charles, the green eyed boy, was making sure no one else came in to follow them. The blond followed Lloyd and Matt into the restroom and motioned over to Matt to a larger stall. Lloyd noticed that the nameless blond was dragging Lloyd's bag across the floor behind him.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Lloyd exclaimed, squirming under Matt's grip. He hadn't expected for the boy holding him to be quite so strong. "Let me go, dammit!"

"Bring him over here, Matt," the blond said, tossing Lloyd's bag to the side and setting himself against the wall and motioning over to a corner. "Be sure to hold him down till I say so."

Lloyd fought back the best he could, but since his arms weren't of any use to him, there wasn't much he could do. It seemed no matter how much he kicked at the boy holding him from behind, there was nothing he could do to release him from the grip he was in. Soon enough, Lloyd was pinned up with his face against the wall in the corner of the stall so he couldn't see what was going on. He could hear some rustling around in what appeared to be his backpack and he yelled once more for the blond to stop.

"Let's see, what have we got in here…," the blond's voice spoke up, ignoring Lloyd's pleas to stop what he was doing. "Oh, this is a nice little bit of papers. Looks like some important homework that you've probably got to turn in today." Lloyd heard tears and rips, making the boy struggle more to get away from the large hands holding him down. "Such a shame. You'd even showed all the work on the math problems. Too bad you won't be able to tape them back together if they're all wet."

"Stop it!" Lloyd screamed, pushing his knees against the wall and shoving with all the force he could against it, pushing himself and Matt backwards.

The brunet had managed to knock Matt's back against the door to the stall they were in, resulting in his momentary release. Lloyd quickly recovered himself and looked over to the blond boy, dropping what was left of his homework into the toilet. Brown eyes widened as he reached over for his backpack to make sure nothing else happened, but the blond just grinned sadistically as he quickly threw all of Lloyd's belongings into the toilet.

"Why?!" Lloyd yelled, pulling his bag out of the water and onto the floor. "What the hell did I do to y—"

But there was going to be no answers for him since Matt had gotten back up and had reached for the back of Lloyd's head to shove it into the bowl of water he'd just pulled his bag out of. Lloyd did his best to push back away from the water as he heard hysterical laughter every time he was able to resurface.

Luckily, the boys didn't bother to flush the toilet while his head was under, and the dunking didn't last for too terribly long. After a minute or two had passed, Lloyd heard the blond say something he couldn't make out to the boy holding him to the toilet, and he was pulled free from the water. The freedom to breathe didn't last too terribly long though, since the blond had reached over with his hand to wrap his fingers around Lloyd's neck.

"You fucking faggot," the blond growled, his blue eyes even colder than they'd been before. "What is wrong with you?"

"I don't… understand," Lloyd managed to choke out, clawing at the pale fingers that were gripped at his throat. "Why are you doing this… to me?"

"How could you not understand?! You're a fucking guy! How do you just one day let yourself submit to another guy?!" the blond spat, gripping at Lloyd's neck tighter. "You deserve so much worse than this, you fag. You always used to be normal. How do you just one day decide that you'd rather have a penis up your ass rather than yours in some hot chick's—"

All of the sudden, there were cries from Charles up at the front, quickly followed by a loud banging noise, which was probably the door to the bathroom swinging all the way open. The grip around Lloyd's neck was immediately released as the door to the stall was kicked open, the latch flying off and into the toilet with a small splash.

There, standing in the doorway, was a tall, blue-haired man with a very stern look about him. Lloyd, as he was spitting up water that the blond hadn't allowed for him to get out, noticed that Matt was quivering in the corner where he'd earlier shoved the brunet into. A swear word was heard from the blond as he straightened himself out and kicked at Lloyd's bag once.

"Coach, I can explain," the blond spoke, trying his best to sound as smooth with his words as he could. "You see, I was just—"

"I don't want to hear it, Reese," the coach stated. "You, Matt, and Charles need to get your asses down to the office. I don't want to hear another word out of any of you. I've heard enough from the students out in the hallway to understand what's been going on here." Reese growled, throwing a venomous glare down at Lloyd. "And all of you can consider yourselves suspended from any school sports activities, after or during school."

Very upset and agitated growls and grumbles were heard as Reese, Matt, and Charles sulked out of the bathroom. The blue-haired coach walked over to Lloyd and offered a hand to pick him up from the floor. Lloyd was too bothered by the papers that were floating around in the toilet to take the offered hand.

"We'll talk to the teachers about this, don't worry about the work for right now," the man said, kneeling down and grabbing Lloyd's bag and nudging the boy to get up from the floor. "Come on, let's get you down to the nurse's office and get you a new change of clothes."

Lloyd sighed and nodded his head, finally taking the hand the coach had offered. After he got a better look at the man, Lloyd recognized him as the martial arts coach, Regal. The only person that could've gotten him out of his office was Sheena, since she was the only one with the key to get in. A small, thankful smile slid onto Lloyd's face.

"I guess Sheena's the one that got you," Lloyd said quietly, trying to brush the water from his hair.

"Yeah. She said she saw those boys dragging you off to the bathrooms. I owed her a favor, so I decided to check it out, and good thing I did too. I can't believe some of the top students in my class were doing something like this," Regal said, nudging Lloyd out of the stall and out of the bathroom.

Upon exiting the restroom, Lloyd saw that there were quite a bit of students crowded around the door, curious to see what had happened. As soon as they had seen Regal though, they cleared a pathway for him and Lloyd so they could get past them. It wasn't too long before Sheena stepped up to tag along with Lloyd to the nurse's office. The boy could feel his face reddening as he felt all the eyes pressing down on him. He wanted nothing other than at that moment than to just disappear.

"Sorry I couldn't get him sooner," Sheena apologized quietly, placing her hand on Lloyd's shoulder. "It took forever for me to get my key to his office."

"Its fine," Lloyd murmured, tagging along closely behind Regal.

"I texted Zelos about what had happened. He said he'll be here to meet you at Nurse Raine's office."

Lloyd couldn't help but to smile, happy that someone he wanted to be around would be able to comfort him, at least just a little bit. It was nice having Sheena around to help, and he was grateful that she had made it a point to help him, but he wanted Zelos around more than anything. He wanted to be held and comforted by someone that could make him feel safe.

"Lloyd! Hunny, are you okay?!" Zelos's voice suddenly rang out.

"Well, that was fast," Sheena blinked in slight disbelief as a blur of red rushed up to the brunet to embrace him in a hug. "I only texted you five minutes ago, Zelos…"

"If it has anything to do with my hunny's well-being, I'll be there faster than you can say just how precious he is," Zelos swooned, hugging Lloyd close to him, despite him being covered in water. "I brought you an extra change of clothes."

"Could we get to the office before we stop to talk?" Regal spoke up.

Zelos blinked up at Regal as he hugged Lloyd around the waist. After a few seconds, he nodded and started to walk with Sheena, Regal and Lloyd down to the nurse's station. Zelos slipped his hand down to grab Lloyd's as they walked, resulting in a butterfly feeling to arise in the brunet's stomach. He turned to Zelos, who was smiling gently down at him.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier for you, hun," Zelos apologized.

Brown eyes started to fill with tears, and Zelos simply wrapped his arm around Lloyd to pull him to his chest and comfort him. At long last, the group had reached Nurse Raine's office, and just as they did, the bell rang to alert the students class was going to start soon. Sheena gave Lloyd a quick hug and dashed out of the room to leave Regal, Raine, Zelos and Lloyd to sit and discussed what had happened.

The ivory haired woman listened intently to the story Regal told, nodding every so often and taking an opportunity or two to glance over at the couple sitting on one of her patient beds. As the story continued to unfold, a very stern and disappointed look came to her face. Her lips pursed, and her arms crossed over her chest as she tapped her foot irritably at the ground. And when the story came to a close, she finally spoke up.

"And where are the imbeciles that did this?!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air with as much anger as she could display. "Why in the world didn't you send them here so I could give them proper punishment?!"

"With all due respect, Raine, I'm afraid you probably would've overdone it," Regal spoke quietly. "You're job is to help keep the students healthy, not cause them any injury. I'm not saying they don't deserve, of course. I'm just not too sure on how pleased their parents would be. The last thing we need is as someone as talented as yourself getting fired."

"I appreciate your concern, but if you'd just let me—"

"The last time I 'just let you', we had to go through a whole bunch of legal issues, plus you almost lost your job," Regal frowned. Raine frowned furiously at that response. "I don't want you to get fired for some stupid student's inability to accept differences."

"I could totally help get a good lawyer," Zelos spoke up, half joking and half serious. Regal scowled at the redhead. "Just kidding, coach, eesh."

The two teachers went on, arguing about what needed to be done about the situation, so the two boys sitting in the back of the room decided to talk to each other to make what was going on not appear as awkward as it was.

"What in the world happened, Lloyd?" Zelos asked first, ignoring the tardy bell that had gone off.

"I don't really know," Lloyd said very quietly. He looked over to his backpack that was still in one of Regal's hands for a split second and then quickly averted his eyes to the ground. For some reason, he felt embarrassed about everything that had transpired. "They walked up to me, asked who I was, and then dragged me off to the bathroom… I don't even know who they are."

"They're dead meat, that's what they're going to be," Zelos growled. "Honestly, someone as cute as you, I don't see how they even thought to do this to you." Zelos noticed a small stack of dry wash cloths sitting on a nearby counter and decided to grab one to start drying off his boyfriend's hair. "I'm gone for just a little bit and something already happens. I'm so sorry Lloyd."

And there the tears were again, filling to the brim of Lloyd's eyes and threatening to fall. He didn't understand why Zelos was even apologizing, or why he was getting so worked up about it. All he knew was that something was tugging hard at his heartstrings and he could barely stand it. Lloyd's hands flew to his face to cover the tears that had started to fall.

"Hun," Zelos whispered softly, gently removing the brunet's hands from his face. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Lloyd sobbed.

Words that Reese had said to him right before Regal had come to interrupt were echoing loudly in his mind. He had been 'normal'… He had 'deserved so much worse'… Was it true? Was there something wrong with him that he couldn't see that everyone else could?

"He said I deserved worse… that I wasn't normal…," Lloyd said, hiccupping once. "What's wrong with me Zelos?" Lloyd threw his hands around Zelos's waist and buried his face into the redhead's chest. "Why did they do that to me?"

Zelos had noticed the bickering from the two older people in the room had ceased, and an uncomfortable silence fell over the room as Lloyd cried into Zelos's shirt. The older boy was too worried about the teachers hearing what his response would be to answer. He adored Lloyd, but for some reason, the intense stares of the two watching them caused any words he wanted to say to hide behind his tongue. So instead of answering with words, Zelos simply embraced Lloyd in his arms and rubbed a hand down his back to try and comfort him.

"This is unacceptable," Raine spoke up in a whisper to Regal so only he could hear. "What those boys did to Lloyd was absolutely wrong. You had better make sure they aren't allowed to do any more sports for the rest of the year at the very LEAST. If you got them expelled—"

"I'll do what I can. I've already told them they can't do anymore sports for a while. It's all up to the principal at this point," Regal sighed. "I'm sure he won't let this go so easily though."

Raine huffed, crossing her arms over her chest again. She hated that she couldn't do anything else other than to make sure Lloyd was okay, call his dad and make sure he got to class after a while. More than anything, she wanted to get all three of the boys that had hurt Lloyd in her office and give them all a good kick to the stomach, and possibly smack them upside the head with one of her larger textbooks. Then again, such wonderful knowledge shouldn't be harmed in the process of punishing such stupid creatures.

"Make sure it's the ENTIRE year. Not just 'a while'," Raine said. "Now I'm sure you have some things you need to attend to before your class starts next period, such as the three dunces that should be waiting for you in the big man's office. I'll leave you to tend to what needs to be done, and I'll be sure that Lloyd gets the proper care he needs."

"All right," Regal agreed. He turned to Lloyd and Zelos. "If you can convince your parents, I'd try to get yourself home to rest for the day, Lloyd. As for you Zelos, you should probably get to class soon."

"Heh, I'm not supposed to be here for another four hours. I'm gunna stay here with Lloyd, coach," Zelos grinned, starting to dry Lloyd's hair again. "If anything, I'll be the one taking him home if it comes down to it."

"Do as you wish," Regal sighed. "I'll see you later Raine."

"Bye, Regal," she said, dismissing him with a wave of her hand and shutting the door behind him on his way out. "Alrighty then, now that I've got you to myself, it's time to make sure your vitals are okay. Then you're going to have to shower, seeing as that those toilets probably aren't the cleanest things in the world to have had your hair in." Raine looked over to Zelos. "It's weird with you being here and not flirting."

"Ahahaha, what can I say, Lloyd is one hell of a guy," Zelos laughed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He didn't want Lloyd to get anymore upset than he already was.

"Indeed," she agreed, smiling softly. "Even if it's been a while since he's bothered to show up at my house."

"What?! You've been to Raine's house?!" Zelos exclaimed.

"Of course," Lloyd sniffed, shaking his head to get the washcloth Zelos had left on it off. "I used to be best friends with her brother."

"Oh."

Zelos sounded disappointed, as well as relieved, which confused Lloyd a bit. The redhead was happy nothing too crazy had happened, not that he should've expected something like that from his sweet, innocent, adorable, little Lloyd in the first place. However, he was a little upset over the same reason. He wanted, as much as he treasured Lloyd and how his personality was absolutely perfect for him, to hear about a more adventurous side to his sweet brunet.

"Don't sound so upset," Raine sighed, rolling her eyes. "Open your mouth and lift up your tongue, Lloyd."

Lloyd obediently followed the demand and had a thermometer placed in his mouth. His brown eyes looked up to Zelos for some sort of comfort, which he quickly received when the redhead planted an affectionate kiss on the boy's forehead.

"_Awh, how could I ask for anything dirty out of someone so cute?_" Zelos thought. "_He's perfect just as he is… though, I have to wonder where that question came from last night. Hm, maybe there is a little naughty side to my cute Buddy Bud._"

The thermometer in Lloyd's mouth beeped a few times, alerting Raine it was time to see if he'd gotten a fever or if his temperature had gone down. She pulled the device out of the brunet's mouth and noted that his temperature was just a little higher than average, but nothing serious enough to be sent home.

"Okay, I need you to let him go for just a moment so I can check his heart rate, Zelos," Raine spoke up.

No arguments were heard from Zelos as he released Lloyd so Raine could put the stethoscope she wore around her neck up to Lloyd's chest to check his heart rate. Again, her lips pursed, finding nothing out of the ordinary. She walked over to her desk and grabbed her sphygmomanometer [you know, the blood pressure cuff] so she could check his blood pressure. She wrapped the cuff around his arm, squeezed the pump a few times and waited. She sighed when, once more, nothing was above or below normal. She had no reason to send him home. Then again, maybe Kratos would like to have his son home after something like this had happened to his son. From what Raine could remember, ever since he'd lost his wife, he was very protective over Lloyd.

"Well, other than having toilet water in your hair, there's nothing physically wrong with you that the instruments I'm allowed to have can tell me. If you'd like, when I call your father, I can ask him if you can just go home for the day to recover," Raine suggested, hoping Lloyd would be okay with that. There was a nod on Lloyd's side as he nuzzled up against Zelos. "Okay, I'll be sure to ask."

"Ah, if it's not too much trouble, could you just ask him if he could come home with me?" Zelos spoke up. "I'd just like to keep him nearby if possible."

"Yeah, I'll ask. Just don't be too shocked if he says no," Raine chuckled.

"Why would he say no?" Zelos asked, genuinely confused. "He hasn't had any issues with Lloyd hanging out with me so far."

"Oh, then he doesn't know that you two are a pair?" Raine frowned. "You won't be able to keep that from him forever. Don't be too shocked if he doesn't want you near him for a while when he does manage to discover your two's secret… or if he tries to mutilate you."

"Oh my Goddess, Kratos doesn't seem like the kind of person to do that! What's with everyone making him out to sound like he's an overly protective, crazy father that won't let his son do absolutely anything if he doesn't like it?!" Zelos said, flailing his arms dramatically.

"I told you so," Lloyd sniggered, hugging Zelos as tightly as he could.

"Uggghhh, I'm getting really nervous about your dad finding out about us now," Zelos groaned.

"And you should be," Raine laughed, walking over to her phone to call Kratos up.

-At Lloyd's house-

By the time Yuan had gotten back home from dropping Lloyd off at school and picking up a quick meal for lunch and a few things for dinner, he'd come home to find Kratos talking on the phone, and by the look on his face, the conversation wasn't one he was enjoying. Yuan quickly went into the kitchen to put the groceries away so he could sit in the living room to wait for Kratos to finish talking with whoever it was on the phone and come to talk to him about it. As the conversation continued, Yuan picked up a few bits and pieces about what was being talked about. Mostly, it was just Lloyd, but he hadn't done anything bad. It seemed something bad had happened to him, but it wasn't a simple fall off the last stair or something small like that. Kratos would never speak with such an angry tone of voice if it was something simple.

No, something _bad_ had happened after he'd dropped Lloyd off at school. Yuan swallowed. What if he had seen that black and silver mop of hair? What if it wasn't his imagination? All Yuan knew is if the person he was thinking of was involved, Kratos had absolutely every right to be as enraged as he was.

"AND WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO THEM?!" he yelled through the receiver. A pause as the other person answered. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T… Raine, why in the WORLD did this happen?! There's NO excuse for what those bastards did to him!"

"_More than one person… I doubt he would try and get a group together on a school ground,_" Yuan mentally sighed. "_Well, then at least it wasn't him._"

"Yes, but my son didn't DO anything to them! I'm absolutely positive!" Kratos continued yelling at the phone, thinking it would get his point across that he didn't like what had happened. "Zelos is there? Well where was he when this happened?!"

"_Oh?_" Yuan thought, perking up again.

"I see, well then sure. Yeah, I don't care. At least he'll keep him safe," Kratos sighed. "Just get him out of that school."

"_Wait… did Zelos just…?_"

"Could I talk to Lloyd for just a second?" Kratos asked, trying his best to calm down. Another pause as the person handed the phone off to Lloyd. "Hey, are you doing all right? … That's good. I'm so sorry this happened… Yeah, you can stay the night, just make sure you go to school tomorrow, okay? I know what happened shouldn't have happened, but at least he'll be able to be with you at the very start of the day to make sure you'll be okay."

There was a mental image of Zelos that popped up in that was pointing and laughing at Yuan. The blunet growled at it, setting his head on his hand as he leaned against the arm of the couch. And now, there was nothing he could do from keeping Zelos away from Lloyd. It seemed that Kratos wasn't going to be catching on anytime soon to their relationship, so he sighed, thinking he probably needed to give in and just go with it. It wasn't like Lloyd would ever try to keep him from Kratos if they'd ever get together, not that he'd give him the chance anyways.

"All right, I'll see you tomorrow. Give the phone back to Raine."

"_He's in the nurse's office?! What the hell happened?_" Yuan thought, frowning.

"I'm sorry you have to deal with this." A pause with what seemed to be angry chatter on the other side of the phone. "Yeah, I'd love to give it to em to. They definitely have it coming, no doubt about that. Well, I'd better let you get back to making sure he's okay." Another pause, but this time Yuan couldn't hear the voice. "Yeah, you too. Bye Raine."

Kratos hung up the phone and set it back in the dock where it belonged. His hands flew to the sides of his head and he sighed, obviously irritated. He paced around for a moment before he finally noticed Yuan waiting patiently for him on the couch. Kratos left his spot by the phone and threw himself on a couch cushion and immediately laid his head on the blunet's shoulder. A small smile came to Yuan's lips. Apparently, Kratos was already getting to the point where he was as comfortable as he used to be around him.

For a while, Kratos just leaned on Yuan's shoulder in silence. Yuan was antsy about what had happened, and desperately wanted to know, but he didn't want to pressure Kratos into telling him when he was in a bad mood. So instead of asking him about it right away, he rubbed his hand along the auburn haired man's back. That resulted in a sigh, and Kratos sitting up and bury his hands into his hands as he placed his elbows on his knees.

"I don't see how people can be so terrible," Kratos sighed, shaking his head. "Lloyd minds his own business at school. Why would people randomly, out of the blue try to hurt him so badly that he ends up in the nurse's office and needs to be sent home because it was such a traumatic experience?"

"What happened?" Yuan asked. "He seemed just fine when I dropped him off at school this morning."

"Apparently a group of boys found him alone in the hallway and dragged him off to the bathroom. They threw his backpack into a toilet, and not long after that decided they'd dunk him in it and rough him up a bit. I don't get it. Lloyd isn't exactly the most social person in the world, but he isn't a recluse. He minds his own business unless someone wants to say hi or whatever," Kratos sighed. "So, tonight he's staying with Zelos."

"Yeah, I managed to pick that bit up," Yuan said, still rubbing at Kratos's back. "I certainly hope those boys get expelled."

"No kidding. To start randomly picking on someone for no reason whatsoever has to mean they're severely messed up," Kratos grunted.

"_I could probably think of a reason why, but you don't need to know that now. It's not much of a reason to go out of their way to bully poor Lloyd though,_" Yuan thought to himself.

All of the sudden, there was a knock at the door. The noise made Kratos jump a little since he wasn't expecting it, so Yuan got up to answer the door. He had a bad feeling he knew who it was, but he didn't need Kratos to get overly upset because Mithos needed to talk to him about a mission. Yuan thought Kratos deserved a break after all the scares from last night and the phone call he received this morning.

Sure enough, as soon as he opened the door, he was greeted with what at first was a grin, but it was immediately replaced with a deadly scowl. It was as Yuan expected, Mithos was not happy to see him in the very least.

"Where's Kratos," he growled.

"He needs a chill day, Mithos. Some kids decided to scare him last night, so let him do what he wants today. I'm sure you already saw the door. There's a window that's broken in the kitchen, so just let him be for a bit," Yuan said calmly.

Mithos wasn't taking the situation as lightly as Yuan wanted him to though. Instead he shoved at Yuan, pushing him back against the door and into the house so Mithos could get past him. He made a beeline straight to where Kratos was and grabbed the redhead by the collar of his shirt.

"Wrong move, asshole," Yuan growled, walking over Mithos.

The blunet made a grab at the blond's shirt, but he was greet by a fist to the right side of his lower jaw, resulting in Yuan taking a few steps back to recover. Yuan could taste blood settling on his tongue after accidentally biting the side of his mouth too hard. Kratos let out a cry of protest as he shoved to get away from the blond.

"Get out of here!" Kratos yelled, shoving at the blond's chest. "Let me go! Let me go or I—"

But before he could finish his sentence, Mithos grabbed at the back of Kratos's neck, gripping at his hair, and crushed his lips to the redheads. Everything went absolutely silent. Kratos was too shocked to show any kind of reaction, and Yuan was still recovering from the blow to his face.

As soon as Yuan saw what happened though, he went straight for the blond and tackled him to the ground, let two or three punches fly at the man beneath him. Slender hand reached up to shove Yuan off of him and try to punch him in the chest. Yuan held the slightly smaller man steady though and started shaking him at the shoulders.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Yuan screamed, some blood spitting out from his mouth.

"The same thing that's wrong with you," the blond chuckled, kneeing the man above him in the stomach. That successfully got Yuan off of him so he could stand up and dust his shirt off. He continued laughing as Yuan clutched to his stomach in pain. "I just love someone that I'm not allowed to love. Why should I be afraid anymore though? The stupid woman that had gotten in my way earlier is dead and gone… Now there's you. You never did know when to quit, did you?" Mithos kicked Yuan again, this time in the chest. "Just because you met him first doesn't mean anything! I've always like him more! Now if you would just join the stupid bitch that got in my way, I wouldn't have anything else keeping me from—What are you doing Kratos?"

Not wanting to just stand by and watch anymore, Kratos had, very shakily, put himself between Yuan and Mithos. Instead of standing up though and blocking him with his arms alone, the redhead had actually knelt down and was holding the blunet in his arms, shielding him with his whole body. A look of pure horror was now on Mithos's face as he watched Kratos hold the blue-haired man in his arms and turn to glare up at him.

"Get out of my house," Kratos seethed. "You're not welcome here anymore. Get out before I call the cops on you. You may be in charge of the police station here, but you have no right to come into my home and do as you please."

"But Kratos—"

"GET OUT!" Kratos screamed, tears streaming down his face. "GET OUT NOW!"

It was a while before Mithos moved, but the longer he stared down at Yuan and Kratos, the angrier he got, so it wasn't too terribly long before he turned and left as quick as he could, slamming the door shut as loud as possible. Once he was gone, Kratos did his best to pull Yuan over to the couch and set him up right. As soon as he did though, Yuan curled up into a ball and coughed up a small amount of blood in his hands.

Kratos just about flipped when he saw that.

"Stay right here, I'm going to get the car ready to get you to the hospital," Kratos said, shaking as he spoke.

But Yuan shook his head and grabbed at the bottom of Kratos's shirt to keep him from going anywhere. He forced out a pained smile and pleaded softly for Kratos to just let him stay home.

"I just want you here with me, okay? I'll be fine," Yuan spoke quietly, smiling the whole time. "I just got a little bruised up, it's nothing serious."

"You're coughing up BLOOD Yuan!"

"I just bit the side of my mouth, nothing to worry about," Yuan spoke. "Please, Kratos, just sit with me. That's all I need. I won't be able to make dinner for you if I'm sitting in a hospital bed. I'll be better sooner if you just sit here with me… please?"

So Kratos sat down on the couch cushion right next to Yuan, taking off his jacket to wipe away at the blood trickling down Yuan's with the cloth. Even with a sharp pain stabbing at his chest that was making it difficult for him to breathe, he still smiled through it so Kratos wouldn't worry any more than he already was.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything more to keep him from you," Yuan apologized when Kratos was done wiping off his mouth.

"It's… fine," Kratos sighed, remembering how Mithos had forced a kiss on him. It was a very uncomfortable feeling for him. "I certainly wasn't expecting that from him though. Guess I should've been paying more attention."

"I'm so sleepy," Yuan sighed, grabbing Kratos's hand so he could nuzzle his face against it.

"You can't go to sleep. You have to stay awake so nothing bad happens," Kratos said sternly.

"I'll try," Yuan said, kissing the palm of Kratos's hand, making the redhead blush some. "Your hands are so warm."

Kratos felt his heart flutter a bit faster than normal as Yuan's ocean blue eyes stared up to him, pleading for him to stay nearby. The younger man placed the back of his hand to Yuan's forehead, noting it felt warmer than it should have.

"I'm going to go get you a washcloth to keep on your forehead to keep your fever down, okay?" Kratos said, slowly standing up from the side of the couch. But it seemed Yuan didn't want him to leave, even if it was just a little while. "Please, Yuan, I'll be right back."

"I'll be fine, really, I will," Yuan whined. "Just stay here with me, please?"

"I promise I won't leave again if you just let me get you a washcloth," Kratos frowned.

Still, Yuan was intent on keeping Kratos nearby, so Kratos decided he would try a different approach this time around. He knelt back down at the side of the couch and tapped his forehead to Yuan's and placed a hand to the blunet's face to rub his thumb across his cheek gently. Those bluish-green eyes widened some and his cheeks showed a light shade of pink on them.

"I'll be right back, I promise. I want to make sure you don't have to go to the hospital later, just like you want, all right?" Kratos said delicately. Yuan didn't seem to want to protest at this point. "That's what I thought."

And with that done and over with, Kratos shyly placed a kiss on Yuan's forehead. He then quickly got up from the side of the couch so Yuan wouldn't notice the intense color of red that covered his entire face. Kratos made his way to the bathroom that was located underneath the stairs and pulled a small cloth from under the counter and placed it under the faucet after he turned it on.

"_What's with me?_" Kratos thought. "_Getting so worked up over something like that. It's not like he's never done that to me before. He's never gotten so worked up over it…_" Kratos squeezed the cloth once and turned off the water. "_He's just my friend. I just care for him like he cares for me when I'm not feeling good. Nothing more._" Kratos looked back out to the living room. "_I wonder what he thinks of me though._"

Kratos walked out of the bathroom, went to the front door to lock it after Mithos had slammed it shut, and then walked back into the living room to see how Yuan was doing. To Kratos's surprise though, Yuan sat up and stared straight into reddish-brown eyes. Once Kratos got close enough, Yuan gently grabbed at Yuan's wrist and tugged at it very softly.

"I can't just sit here wondering forever," he murmured, urging Kratos to either kneel in front of the couch again or sit next to him. "I need to know so I don't let those little things keep getting to me…"

Kratos finally knelt down in front of Yuan, the wet washcloth still hanging in his hand. It wasn't there for long however, since Yuan released Kratos's wrist to place both his hands on the man's face and pull it close to his so their noses brushed past each other. For a moment, Yuan hesitated, biting at his lip, wondering if he should even be doing what he was doing. He didn't want Kratos to get mad at him like he'd gotten at Mithos and scream at him to get out and not come back ever again, but his worries disappeared when Kratos dropped the cloth that he was holding and wrapped his arms around Yuan's neck and completed the connection.

Once the kiss had started, Yuan wasn't quite sure how to go about it. Sure, Kratos had helped him to get it started, but he didn't expect it to happen exactly how it had. Kratos noticed that Yuan wasn't giving too much of a response and pulled away, his face bright red.

"I-I'm sorry," he apologized quickly. "I guess I—"

"No… no sorrys," Yuan said just as quickly and pressed his lips to Kratos's again.

So the moment continued, and Kratos crawled up onto Yuan's lap, lacing his fingers through the long blue hair he'd always loved to touch. Yuan hesitantly placed his hands at base of Kratos's back and then wrapped his arms all the way around him to pull him closer, not wanting the kiss to end. But as Kratos leaned into his body, Yuan let out a hiss of pain and Kratos immediately pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Kratos asked with a concerned tone in his voice.

"I think the damned bastard broke a rib or two," Yuan winced.

"He w-what?! I need to get you to the hospital!"

"Kratos, we can't really do much about it," Yuan chuckled. "All we can do is get some me some pain medication, maybe wrap my chest up some and then put some ice on the sore spots. That's the only information they'll give us after they charge an outrageous fee for just visiting them and asking their opinion. Trust me on this one."

There was a sigh from Kratos as he hung his head and gently rubbed his hand over Yuan's chest. Yuan simply smiled through the pain and placed his hand on the side of Kratos's face. The smaller man nestled his face into the palm of the hand resting against the side of his face and smiled with Yuan.

"You're so cute," Yuan grinned, happy he was finally able to say it.

Kratos wasn't too terribly pleased with the compliment and punched a fist down at Yuan's leg, making the blunet yelp. Of course, Kratos immediately felt bad after he did that, but Yuan started laughing, making the redhead wonder what in the world was up with the man he was sitting on.

"I guess I deserved it," Yuan smiled. "How about an apology kiss?"

Not much of an option was given as Yuan simply dove in for the kiss he'd asked for. Kratos didn't feel like protesting though and simply went along with it, smiling against the older man's lips.

"_I guess I can kill Zelos after I thank him for letting Lloyd go to his house for the day,_" Yuan thought to himself, gently caressing Kratos's face again. "_Now we get the whole day to ourselves…_"

-At Zelos's mansion-

"I'll call the teachers and ask about any homework," Sebastian said as he opened the door from the garage to allow the two boys into the mansion. "I'll let you know what needs to be done after I get dinner ready. Oh, and Zelos, I got a call from Sheena that Dolly's not going to make it today again. She seems to have caught a cold."

"Okay, Sebastian," Zelos said, waving the butler off and grabbing Lloyd's bag to lead him upstairs. "Come on, I say we should have a movie day, Lloyd."

Lloyd didn't mind that idea and quietly followed Zelos up the stairs, being pulled up by the hand. Once in Zelos's room, the redhead closed the door and nudged Lloyd over to his bed and walked over to a large bookshelf that was full of DVDs instead of books and started pulling a few off the shelves. He was trying his best to pick movies that he thought Lloyd would like, as well as a few comedies to help cheer him up. Zelos had been very quick to notice how quiet Lloyd had gotten when he found out he'd gotten the okay to stay with Zelos for the night.

Having pulled out about ten different movies, Zelos figured it would be a good idea to present Lloyd with the movies he'd chosen so the brunet could pick the one they would watch. Zelos walked over to the bed Lloyd had been waiting so patiently on and laid the movies out in front of him so Lloyd could get a good look at all of them. For some reason though, as Zelos described each movie, Lloyd seemed more focused on looking up at Zelos and nodding when the redhead would finish describing a movie.

"So, which one do you want to watch?" Zelos asked, smiling softly.

"Uhm," Lloyd said, putting a finger to his lips and looking down at the movies sitting in front of him. "That one."

The brunet had randomly pointed to a movie, and Zelos gladly picked it up and threw the other ones off the bed and onto the floor. He then walked to the TV that sat in front of the bed and turned it on. Zelos could feel Lloyd's eyes pressing down on him, and he briefly wondered why. He glanced over to Lloyd, who quickly slapped a smile on as he grabbed a pillow to cuddle it to his chest in his hug.

"You doing okay over there, Bud?" Zelos asked.

"Yup!" Lloyd said, still smiling.

"Don't have too much fun with that silk while I'm not paying attention, you hear me?" Zelos grinned.

A blush spread across Lloyd's face as he pulled the pillow up to keep from Zelos from seeing. Zelos just laughed and resumed with putting the movie into the DVD player. As he finished up with getting the movie ready, he pranced over to Lloyd and tackled him down to the bed.

"You are so wonderfully comfy!" Zelos swooned, wrapping his appendages around Lloyd's entire body. "And so adorably cute!"

"Can't breathe! Too tight!" Lloyd gasped.

"Oh, sorry," Zelos apologized. He loosened his grip on the boy and then sat on his side to look at Lloyd. "You're so perfect…"

Again, Lloyd's face reddened as the redhead leaned in for a quick kiss. Before Zelos pulled away though, Lloyd lightly gripped a hand to the front of Zelos's shirt to make sure he couldn't get away. Zelos, of course, didn't dare protest and leaned in to further deepen the kiss. Soon enough, Zelos had the boy pinned underneath him and they'd started to mash their tongues together.

For a moment, Zelos pulled away to ask something that had been poking at the back of his mind for a while.

"Is there something on your mind, Lloyd?" he asked.

"N-not really," Lloyd said in reply.

"You are a terrible liar," Zelos frowned. "Tell me now, or I'm not going to kiss you for… an hour."

"I can last."

"…Okay, I'll take you back to your house?"

"No you won't."

"…You know Lloyd, you don't make it very easy to try and get information out of you," Zelos frowned. "Can't you just tell me because you like me enough to?"

The red on Lloyd's face hadn't faltered for a moment as he paused to try and put the right words together. Zelos patiently waited for an answer as he played with Lloyd's hair and planted a few kisses on the boy's forehead. At long last, Lloyd finally spoke up.

"You… Do you remember the question I asked you last night? The one before we went to bed?" Lloyd asked quietly. Zelos nodded. "I… I… Uhm… I was wondering if maybe… we could try something tonight that… uh, maybe you wanted to try out?"

"That _I_ wanted to try out?" Zelos asked. It was Lloyd's turn to nod. "Well, I'm pretty sure you don't want to try what I want to try. It'd be better for you if we took things a little slower than I'm used to going, Bud. Are you really sure you want to test some things out?" Lloyd nodded again. "Well then, sit up for me… It's probably best to get you out of a few pieces of clothing first…"

END OF CHAPTER 12!

banANNU :: PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! Dx I'm sorry, I really am! It was just starting to get a little long! I apologize!

Jazzimonster :: O_e -breakz walking cane- nannu…

banANNU :: ^^;; Yes Jazzi?

Jazzimonster :: What's going on in the next chapter?

banANNU :: …stuff…

Jazzimonster :: WHAT KIND OF STUFF!?

Lloyd :: -enterz- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

Zelos :: -enterz- But BUUUUUD! Get back here! Why won't you just go along with it already?! Dx –tacklz Lloyd-

banANNU :: Q u Q Awww~

Lloyd :: DAMMIT ZELOS! /

banANNU :: Well, I promised I would post this tonight on my deviantart :'D Soooo, here it is! I hope you all enjoyed it… except for maybe the stupid bullying part and Mithos being an idiot.

Jazzimonster :: WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE NEXT CHAPTER?!

banANNU :: Experiments :D

Jazzimonster :: You'd better make up for the mean stuff that happened to Lloyd ):[

banANNU :: I will! I will, I promise! I can't wait to see what you've got to say, though I've got a bad feeling you guys aren't going to enjoy this chapter as much since it was a little more dramatic than most… I hope that doesn't keep you guys from following me through to the end though D: nannu needs her drama to keep things interesting xC I'll see y'all next time!

**-review of the week!-**

amikaze ::  
xDD I told you that was going to be a sweet chapter! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! *gives you a slice of leftover cake* :'D I know you're going to need new teeth, but here. You might need it for this chapter… it was a bit more serious :'D And ohmahgersh, I LOVE YOU TOO! *huggles*  
I'm glad you were able to catch up :3 I'd have been so sad if I'd lost a wonderful reader like you :'O And I tried to warn all of you so I wouldn't be sued if none of you had any teeth by the time you were all done reading xD Whoa, I guess I got lucky on guessing your name :'D derp.  
Well, you're probably not happy with how I ended this chapter :'D I apologize x[ But at least it will guarantee a good start to the next chapter ):D hehehe…  
Oh my gosh, Jazzimonster was the one to show me Junjou Romantica, and I was completely hooked after I watched it! Then there's the manga… :9 I think I'm going to go read that now.  
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and didn't get too upset with the ending Dx

**Can't wait to see you guys in the next chapter! It'll be posted in a few days. :3 I like writing about "experiments" xD  
Cake for all the wonderful reviewers btw :O I have plenty left over from my birthday party! :D Eegads, I'm too old to be partying if I have a walking cane now :'D**


	13. Chaptero trece

Chapter 13  
The New Job

Author :: banANNU

Rated :: M

**Review responses to my favorite people :: the reviewers!**

First off… wow… eleven reviews for the last chapter D': I thought you all would hate me so much you wouldn't want to review. X'3 Thank you so much for all your support. It definitely makes writing this story so much more worth the time I've been putting into it!

**Jazzimonster ::  
**Lol, first of all, I love you, but you commented for the first chapter xD  
Anyways, I'm honored that you changed your name :'O I'm so happy you like the name I made for you. I don't think I can ever top banANNU though… the way that name was born was just too awesome. :'D  
I'm sorry though Dx But, but… at least it was good enough to pull out those extreme emotions I was talking about on facebook :'3 This one's going to be a little serious too, but not nearly as much. I'm so glad that I write good enough that you want to keep reading my story, despite the horrible sadness and stuff it can consist of X_X Can't wait to see what you think of this one :'D  
Love you waaay more!

**Crazy-Franky101 ::  
**Oh my gosh! I haven't seen you review in forever Dx I thought I'd lost you somewhere along the way. Good thing I didn't :'D I'm also glad that you can't hate me, even if my chapters can end quite… hanging and cliffish… if that made any sense at all xD  
Anyways, yoos! O.o I haven't quite lost my touch of shock and surprise after all! I've been starting to wonder if my writing was as good as it used to be or if I've lost my touch since I'd neglected writing for so long… I'm so happy I haven't lost all my writing abilities QuQ But, yes, I decided to go for a more realistic turn of events, since sadly enough, people do tend to do that kind of stuff in real life. I guess I sort of wrote for GLBT abuse awareness of some sort?  
Silly, everyone found out about it (at the school at least) when Zelos pulled Lloyd out in front of that group of girls and kissed him x3 Don't read too fast! You'll miss important things~  
Now don't kill me if this chapter doesn't go the way you've been planning for it too. xC I swear I'm not trying to keep you guys waiting for the really good stuff, I'm just trying to get much needed explaining and story plotting out in the open.  
Can't wait to see what you think! :D Hopefully the thoughts are good ones X_x  
*leaves behind a cookie brownie for you to nom on*

**Marina Ka-Fai ::  
**I'm so glad you liked it :'D Thank you for reviewing  
*gives a cookie of friendship*

**Guest (aka :: Mizu)  
****Part One  
**You tell them Mizu! ):[ You shall be rewarded for your good deed with… pie~ :D *gives a slice of pie* At least for now, Lloyd, Kratos and Yuan can have a little break from the abuse X_X  
Hurr, hurr, lol I love Raine xD Unfortunately, she may have one or two restraining orders *glances to the side* She can certainly be violent when she wants to be. And ye They may be in a little bit of a relationship going that I may have not mentioned for various reasons.  
I feel kinda bad for Yuan =3= Mithos got his talking to from Kratos, so… at least that much good came out of it. And yeah… well, you'll find out in this chapter. O_o  
xD It's a joke. Luckily, I've been able to avoid any serious injuries in my life (other than my poor posture… which isn't really an injury so to speak), so I'm cane free. Jazzi and I just like to joke around like that a lot. ^^  
Don't worry too much about the black and silver hair :B It's explained a little in this chapter :D  
Lol… Don't hurt Mithos too bad. As much as he may be disliked, he's still needed xD  
**Part Two  
**XDDD It's okay, it happens to the best of us… especially me. ._. I've skipped over chapters on accident before too. TT_TT Don't hit your head too hard. *puts pillow where you're hitting your head* You need that for thoughts of thinking!  
Oh, I want a squeaky hammer o 3 o! I'd just use it to hit people if they make perverted comment… :D I like pointing out perversion… even if I can be the source of it sometimes xDDD  
Oh dear, I wouldn't bring cinnamon toast anywhere near Lloyd Dx He wouldn't be too happy. … I'm hungry too… x.x  
:'D Oh, silly Kratos… It's funny to imagine though, because I see him not being able to fit his entire body under the blanket to hide xDD So he might be able to hide his face, but his butt's sticking out in the open. I dunno, I think it's funny to imagine.  
Yes, Yuan moved in, bringing his bed and all his belongings (like… all ten of them…) and put his stuff into the guest bedroom. :3 That is where he lives now!  
Hopefully you don't skip over this chapter xD It's pretty important!  
Can't wait to see what you think!

**amikaze ::  
**Dx Oh dear! I'm sorry! Q . Q I'll try not to do that too often. I usually avoid scary scenes like the last chapter, but sometimes they're necessary to make a story more realistic. At least I write decent enough to bring out extreme emotion that isn't just happiness :'D right? It's a sign of a good author X_X at least so I've heard.  
Oh no, don't kill the moniter! D: Then you can't read the really good stuff I have planned for later! And unfortunately, one or two of them are more than likely going to make one more appearance before the story is up. Dx I won't say when or why though. Don't want to spoil anything.  
(_ _ ;;) Yeah, at least Kratos was able to shoo him out of the house. We all knew something like that was going to happen eventually since the tension between Yuan and him was just getting worse and worse.  
Dx Again, I'm sorry! Q . Q I'll totally pay for your new teeth. At least Yuan and Kratos had their cutesy moment :'D I couldn't hold back any longer. Yuan certainly deserved it! ^^ Ahahahaaa… Don't hate me too much for this chapter, okay? ^^;;;;  
xD experimentations are definitely… interesting :B I do hope you enjoy this chapter, even if you noticed it wasn't on adultfanfiction… o . o …  
:D I'm so glad I started my review of the week thing! It seems to have inspired more reviewing… which I seem to have an addiction to when I get them. :D Oh my goodness, speaking of good yaoi/shounen-ai series, you need to read Totally Captivated. I think you'll like that if you haven't already read it~

**ZaphiraX ::  
**:'D That's exactly what I was aiming for! :3 Yuan and Lloyd are going to be okay for now, which is a great relief. And I will allow you to strangle those boys by the way. I'm none too fond of them either, and their my own characters. ._.  
I'm so glad that you enjoyed the chapter, despite the drama. ^^

**Aittla ::  
**xD It's such a fun word to say once you can pronounce it correctly of course. Just like hippopotomonstrosesquipadali ophobia :D Bet you can't guess what that's the phobia of! [That's been my favorite word for years due to the total irony in it] Glad you enjoyed the chapter! And thank you so much for the birthday wishes! :'D *gives a slice of cake* Hope you like this chapter too ^^

**DennyTribal ::  
**xDDD I'm so happy you liked it! … even if the ending was a little mean, even for me. X_X *hands a tissue for your nose* Don't be too shocked that this chapter isn't on adultfanfiction by the way… *coughs* So how about that weather!?  
:D Your birthday present is all ready by the way. I'm just waiting for the day to come up to post it ^^ I hope you enjoy it~ And I'm sorry about your friend by the way. :\ I'm sure if she gets a little talking to the complaining won't be as bad. Just encourage the good words and behaviors and ignore the bad ones to the best of your abilities :'D It's sad to say, but people are so much like dogs when it comes to positive and negative reinforcement X_X I'm glad that your school year is going good though :D I'm sure you'll find a Tales fan somewhere. :3 Just like how I found my jazzimonster~  
I don't think you're the only one that wants to kill them by the way. According to a lot of the other reviews… they weren't too happy with them either. But it's kinda like you said, I wanted to put a more realistic twist on the story, since not everyone usually agrees with something they're unfamiliar with (which is sad to say, but it's true). Zelos is going to make sure to keep Lloyd safe from now on! To the best of his abilities anyways. *coughs again*  
xDDD Yeah, I couldn't hold back on the Kruan any longer! It needed to happen… so it did. *dances with you* *u*  
D: Oh no! I'll be waiting for your review like I do every time I post my chapter. I usually don't feel right posting a chapter without your review (and a few others) D': If I were to do that, I would feel incredibly guilty, seeing as that I love responding to your reviews every chapter!  
I can't wait to see what you think :'D *gives a cookie*

**Wolfie ::  
**XD It was just one short of being your entire username. Silly fanfiction! I think I've become accustomed to calling you Wolfie anyways ^^  
I'm glad you enjoyed my two little presents for you :'D I can't help dedicating things to people I adore when they deserve it ^^ And thanks for the birthday wishes :'D  
XD You should see us in real life. We're almost always laughing when we're together.  
:'D Huzzah! I'm not hated! I'm glad you liked it :'''D despite the stupid idiots. =3= I hate writing out characters that are flat out mean.  
Told you that you'd recognize him once you finished this chapter ;3 It's kinda hard not to realize who it is when you've already seen a picture of him… e3e First of all, the hair is a dead giveaway. But he shall be making his appearance this chapter! :] Hope he fits the picture x_X  
I need to somehow fit Raine and Regal into more of the chapters o3o but that would probably mean more injury… since Raine is a nurse and all.  
Rotfl, Zelos doesn't realize the inevitable doom to come…  
Oh, and the whole Dolly not appearing at work thing is actually going to be discussed in the _next_ chapter :B It'll be an interesting confrontation to say the least.  
Hope you enjoy this chapter :'D  
Totally can't wait to start writing with you~~~

**Guest ::  
**:'D I'm so glad you liked it! I'll continue sharing as much as I can until the very end ^^ I hope you'll continue reading and enjoy the following chapters~

**TerrenceG9 ::  
**:D A new fan! I welcome you with open arms and plenty of cookies of friendship! *hands a whole plateful of cookies* I certainly very happy that you like my story to read all the way through it x3 Oh dear… now that you mention it… I did kinda drag out the days in the beginning didn't I. OnO I do apologize for that. I'm glad that I've gotten out of that for the most part though :'D And believe it or not, lots of your questions are going to be answered fairly soon :O I do hope you enjoy this chapter and eventually answer all those questions x3  
Can't wait to hear what you think!

**Review if you would like to see your response in the next chapter!**

Disclaimer :: Oh goodness… I don't think I have time for much X_X I've taken up three pages for response… I really need to just reply to those… Well, anyways, I do not own Tales of Symphonia, nor any of its characters. I am not making money by writing this fiction.

Enjoy!  
Chapter 13

Enter Black and Silver  
(I'm going to try to start naming my chapters…)

"Just get yourself comfortable," Zelos said softly, suggesting that Lloyd lean back against the pile of pillows behind him. "Relax, Bud… don't forget to breathe."

The movie that was playing trailers in the background had been quickly forgotten as Lloyd laid himself flat against the mass of black pillows, nearly sinking in to the silk fabric. Zelos leaned in for a kiss, very gently at first, but as it progressed, it became more passionate. Lloyd found himself clutching tighter than he usually would to Zelos's shirt, squeezing a good portion of it into the balls of his fists. The redhead was quick to notice and started to lighten up on the kiss. It seemed to do the trick since Lloyd loosened up on his death grip.

Zelos then pulled away from the kiss to whisper inaudible nothings into Lloyd's sensitive ears. That got an immediate reaction of cute little moans and whimpers that Zelos found himself falling in love with. He continued on with that, occasionally slipping in a nibble or two around the earlobe. Lloyd bit hard at his lips, trying his best to keep any sounds from coming out that were too terribly loud. Zelos was none too pleased with that.

"Where are my noises my dear?" Zelos asked in a breathy whisper. "There's no one around to hear…"

Teeth sunk into Lloyd's earlobe, getting a loud gasp out of the boy. Zelos then started to suck on it some, playing with the lobe with short flicks of his tongue. Lloyd's hands released the fabric of Zelos's shirts, leaving temporary wrinkles where they'd been, and flew around Zelos's back, resulting in the redhead losing balance and falling over on top of Lloyd. Zelos could feel Lloyd's nails trying to grind themselves into his back, making the boy chuckle.

"I haven't even done much and you're already really excited," Zelos laughed, blowing lightly into his boyfriend's ear. "I think it's time to get this shirt I got for you off…"

Zelos was quick to follow his words, undoing every last button on the boy's shirt and sliding it off past his arms. The red piece of clothing was quick to end up on the ground and Zelos stared for a while at the exposed skin. Sure, he'd gotten to look when he'd gotten Lloyd into a swimsuit, but he'd been tossing the boy around too much to get a really good stare at him. This time, he made sure to take in eyefuls of everything he could. He had never thought he'd be admiring a boy's body in his life time quite like he was doing, but here he was, molesting Lloyd as much as he possibly could with his eyes.

Slightly embarrassed by all the attention he was suddenly getting, Lloyd found himself hiding his bare chest behind a pillow. That only made Zelos laugh amused at how adorable Lloyd was. The redhead reached over and gently removed the pillow from Lloyd's grip so he could start experimenting and finding some sensitive spots with the skin he was allowed to play with.

He started of with simple kisses, first around the neck, then down to the collarbone. His hands explored where his mouth wasn't, dancing down Lloyd's ribs and gliding over his belly. Occasionally, Zelos's fingers would pass over an exposed nipple, resulting in a few more mewls that the redhead was aiming for. After a while, the kisses turned into delicate nibbles, moving downwards as he became more adventurous. Lloyd wasn't giving any signal to stop, nor was he making any uncomfortable gestures, so Zelos continued to move down until he reached a nipple.

The redhead moved his tongue in circular motions around one of the nubs while he playfully twisted and pinched at the other with one of his hands. At this point, Lloyd was starting to have more of a difficulty holding back on his moans and let a few louder ones slip out. Zelos just grinned and continued with what he was doing. The more noises he could get out of Lloyd, the more he knew he was doing the right thing to keep him happy.

"How do you like it so far?" Zelos murmured, still teasing at the nipples.

"Nnnn…," was all Lloyd could manage to make out.

"Come on, there's got to be more to it than that my darling," Zelos said.

"It—" As Lloyd was speaking, Zelos started to bite down a little harder at the small pink nub in his mouth. "Ah! Z-Zelos!"

"What?" the redhead grinned. "Go on…"

"Y-You're…aahhh… So mean," Lloyd moaned.

"I'm sure if I stopped right now, you wouldn't be too happy about it," Zelos snickered. "I can move on though, if you'd like." There was a pause, followed by a curt nod, signaling Zelos do continue further. "As you wish."

But before he started touching and exploring new areas, Zelos felt the need to do something he'd never done before. He wanted to place a mark on Lloyd and make sure no one else claimed him as their own. So he looked around for a nice spot to mark his territory, still feeling around with his hands to keep the moans coming. And that was when he found the perfect spot, right where his collarbone connected to his shoulder. Lloyd had barely caught the sly fox grin before Zelos reached up bite down and start sucking at the sensitive skin.

The sudden attack was slightly painful to Lloyd, but he put up with it until Zelos was done. It was about another minute or so before Zelos left the spot he'd been giving so much attention to. Some saliva dripped down from his lips which he quickly wiped away as he stared in awe at the lovely little mark he'd made. It had even resembled a sort of misshapen heart, making a quirky little smile slide onto Zelos's lips.

"Now your mine," Zelos grinned proudly. "It's a nice dark one too, so it shouldn't be fading away any time soon! Now, time to try something a little different. Don't forget Lloyd, if I do something you don't like, let me know…"

Lloyd just nodded, a pang of nervousness sweeping over him. Zelos could tell Lloyd was starting to worry about what was going to happen, so before he moved on, he got himself straddled over Lloyd's waist in a comfortable position and reached to the boy's face to give him a much needed kiss. The brunet quickly melted into it as he put his hands on Zelos's shoulders.

Once he saw Lloyd wasn't too terribly worried, Zelos began his advancement downwards, starting from where he'd left off at the nipples and slowly making his way down. He would plant kisses as he went, stopping for a moment to play with Lloyd's naval, which resulted in a small fit of laughter from the boy. Zelos liked that sound, almost as much as he enjoyed the pleasured moans he would get from the boy. He'd have to come back to that sometime later in the night. He didn't mind the idea of pinning the poor boy down and tickling him for a while.

Later though. That was for later. He was in the middle of testing how far Lloyd was willing to go right now.

Zelos continued on, kissing and massaging Lloyd's flat stomach, feeling every inch of it with his hands. The almost unbearably soft skin was driving Zelos over the edge. He couldn't get enough of the boy's skin and how it felt under his fingertips. He needed to feel more of it, but there was something in the way, blocking him from going any further.

The pants. Zelos sighed, pulling away from the barrier and sitting up. Zelos noticed the confused look on the boy's face from the sudden halt of kisses and touches. Blue eyes stared, wondering if he should even try to move on past what they'd done. To Zelos, this was nothing but foreplay, but he knew that Lloyd would have an entirely different thought on the whole experience, and Zelos wasn't sure he wanted to plunge Lloyd into it right away. The redhead absolutely adored the innocence the boy held. It was unlike anything he'd never seen in any of the girls he'd happened across…

"Let's just stop here for now," Zelos suggested, suddenly hugging the brunet in his arms.

"Wh-what? But why?" Lloyd questioned.

"Why do you sound so nervous, hun?" Zelos pulled the boy away from the hug for a moment to get a better look at him as they spoke.

"I… I'm not boring, am I?" Lloyd asked quietly. "I-I don't want to… I don't want you to not like me… because I'm not experienced… I wanted to make you happy, like those other girls before me did…"

"So that's what this is all about," Zelos mumbled, letting out a loud sigh. There was a momentary frown on the redhead's face, a result from feeling a bit disappointed that Lloyd would force himself to go through new experiences faster than he wanted to impress Zelos, but it was almost immediately replaced with a tender smile. "You shouldn't worry about that, Bud. You don't need to try and rush things because I'm used to it. Rushing stuff like that along _will_ make things boring later. I'm definitely willing to wait until you're absolutely sure you're ready to try anything. Plus, those other girls meant nothing to me. You're different, Lloyd. Goddess, I don't even know why, but I want to do so much more to you than I've ever done to anyone else, yet at the same time, I'm content with just having you near me."

As Zelos spoke, Lloyd noticed that Zelos was entirely serious. The redhead continued on, wanting to make sure Lloyd didn't feel the need to push himself into doing something he wasn't used to until he was one hundred percent sure he wanted to.

"I don't want to do anything to you that you're going to regret at any point in the future," Zelos said, gently grasping Lloyd's shoulders in his hands. "I will hold back on ANYTHING for however long it takes for you to be sure you're ready. I don't care if we're old men by that time."

Zelos paused, thinking about what he'd just said. Never once could he remember ever wanting to be with someone as badly as he wanted to be with Lloyd. He couldn't even remember even wanting to grow old with anyone and still want to hold a serious relationship. Zelos had always thought that he wasn't worth that kind of relationship. The fact that he'd mentioned he would be willing to wait, even if it was until it was years later, made the redhead grin. It was decided right then and there that he was going to stay with Lloyd no matter what. Zelos Wilder, lady swindler extraordinaire, wanted nothing to do with anyone else other than Lloyd.

"Zelos?" Lloyd asked, starting to worry from the sudden pause.

"That ring I gave you," Zelos started up again, going off on a new topic of conversation. "It belonged to my mother before she died."

Lloyd's eyes widened as he looked down to his right ring finger. He'd remembered Sheena mentioning how upset Zelos had gotten with her when she'd accidentally come across it while cleaning out his dressers. Even Yuan had suspected that the golden band must've held some sort of significance to Zelos, but Lloyd had never imagined that it could've held sentimental value as high as what it held. The brunet felt bad because he was wearing something that he believed shouldn't have been on his finger.

"I-I-I c-can't have this!" Lloyd stammered, removing his glove to try and take the ring off. Zelos however, stopped him from doing so by grabbing the boy's hand and planting a small kiss on the ring that was still on his finger. "Zelos, this is—"

"It's yours," the redhead said, smiling. "I want you to have it. It's no good to me sitting in a box, gathering dust and bringing up only bad memories when I look at it. At least when I see it now, I can smile knowing it's on someone that means something to me. My mom gave that ring to me a few weeks before she died and told me to give it to someone special, to someone that I would be willing to do anything to make them happy." Slim blue eyes stared longingly into brown. "I don't know what it is about you, Lloyd. You make me think someone like me, someone who's slept around with countless women, someone who's lied and cheated, someone who's ruined many relationships because I felt like having sex with some random girl who happened to have a boyfriend… someone who can't be who they really are in public… you make it seem like that I, of all people, can actually be happy with someone as amazing as you."

Lloyd threw his arms around Zelos, hugging him close to hide a very obvious blush on his face. He gripped at the back of Zelos's shirt as tight as he could, making sure the redhead wouldn't try to pry the boy off of him. For the most part, the hug was supposed to serve as a sentimental moment, but when Lloyd brought his hands from behind Zelos's back to place them on his chest, the moment ended.

"Lloyd? What happened to your hand?" Zelos asked, pointing the bandages wrapped around the boy's hand.

"Huh?" Lloyd's eyes glanced down to his ungloved hand. "O-oh! It's nothing!" Lloyd said quickly, pulling his hand back and then fumbling around clumsily to find the glove and put it back on his hand. Zelos stopped him by grabbing the boy's wrist with a firm grip. "I-I'm pretty sure that it's all healed up! It's nothing to look at."

"Is this why you were wearing those weird gloves all the time?" the redhead asked, carefully examining the bandages on Lloyd's hand. "It looks like Sebastian's work. When did you hurt yourself?"

"It, uh, it was a while ago. I slammed my hand in a door on accident, no biggie," Lloyd said, trying to pull his hand away so Zelos wouldn't unwrap the bandage and either freak out like he did the first time he'd seen the injury, or recognize it and tie him in and start to suspect him as Dolly. "It's okay, really, it is. There's no need to look at it, really."

Zelos very reluctantly let go of Lloyd's hand, giving Lloyd a very concerned look as he did. The bandaged hand was quickly covered by the glove that had been previously been hiding the white strips of cloth. A nervous glance was thrown back towards Zelos's direction from Lloyd as he mentally hoped Zelos wasn't too terribly suspicious about how he'd reacted to the redhead grabbing his hand. And then it struck him.

Zelos had only been looking. He hadn't freaked out, he hadn't tried to remove the bandages… he hadn't even asked what the bandages had been hiding. All he'd done was glance at them for a moment and ask if it had been the reason for the gloves. Lloyd suddenly felt rather embarrassed at how he'd let the situation turned out the way it had, and he felt his face burning up because of it.

"Are you okay Lloyd?" Zelos finally asked.

"Yeah, sorry. I, uh, heard from Dolly that you'd sorta flipped out when you'd seen her injury the first day you met her. I guess I didn't want you to worry about it since Sebastian already took care of it," Lloyd said, feeling bad about having to lie to get himself out of a corner he'd pushed himself into.

"Well, since Sebastian already took care of you, I don't have anything to worry about. Sebastian's the only one that I trust to take care of any injuries that happen under my roof or that haven't been taken care of yet," Zelos shrugged. "I guess I didn't realize that I overreacted to the point of scaring people into not letting me see any wounds that they have on them."

"Why do you act like that?" Lloyd asked. "Surely you weren't always like that…"

"Well…," Zelos started, placing one of his hands on Lloyd's shoulder, "that is a story for another day. Right now, I wanna focus on you. I brought you over here to cheer you up, not worry you with random memories of my past."

Lloyd saw the smile on Zelos's face falter, but it was quick, almost a flicker that he'd barely managed to notice happen. That made Lloyd want to press on and ask again, but he felt he shouldn't and that he didn't have the right to. So, he kept his mouth shut and threw on a comforting smile while he leaned his body onto Zelos's chest, snuggling his head into the crook of his boyfriend's neck. He felt Zelos slide his arms around Lloyd's back. It was a tighter hug than Lloyd was used to, but he let Zelos hug him as long as necessary.

Suddenly, Lloyd's phone started vibrating violently, alerting him someone was calling him. Zelos felt the phone go off as well, so he released Lloyd so the boy could see who it was. As soon as Lloyd wriggled the cell phone out of his pocket, he saw it was his dad and answered it right away.

"Hello?" Lloyd said as greeting, bringing the small device up to his ear to hear the reply. Zelos was going to settle himself against the pillows on his bed and start watching the movie they'd so quickly neglected upon putting it in, but that idea was suddenly brought to a halt when Lloyd jumped out of the bed, a look of disdain on his face. "What?! Who the hell did it?!" the brunet snapped angrily, starting to pace back and forth across the room. "Is he okay?!" A pause. "It was Mithos wasn't it!? Dad, you have to stop working for that prick! You know he's just going to keep doing this if you don't! … Well you should at least report him for what he did and get him locked up for at least a little bit! He doesn't deserve to just walk away from something like that!" Zelos pulled himself up from the bed to stop the smaller boy from his pacing by wrapping his arms around him in a hug. "No Dad, I never liked him… What do you mean why? Because he never liked me, and he made sure that I knew it! Yes, he did! … Well, I don't know, he was a good source of income, so I guess I didn't want to make getting money any harder for you at the time… Yeah… Yeah, I know." Lloyd pouted and nuzzled his face against Zelos's chest. "Of course… How long is he going to be there? … Okay, we'll be over as soon as we can. Yeah, see you later."

Finally, Lloyd ended the conversation and closed his phone to put it in his pocket. There was a very loud and heavy sigh from Lloyd that all gathered into a warm spot on Zelos's shirt, flowing past the fabric to Zelos's chest. The redhead rubbed his hands down Lloyd's back, quietly enjoying himself since the boy hadn't put his shirt back on yet, but restraining himself so as he wouldn't upset Lloyd any more than he already appeared to be.

"So, what happened?" Zelos asked.

"Mithos put Yuan in the hospital. They got into a scuffle and the jackass managed to get him onto the ground and kick him in the stomach and chest and got a rib to puncture one of his lungs. He started coughing up a lot of blood, so right now he's in the ER trying to get everything all fixed up," Lloyd said quietly. "I hate that guy. I don't see how he can't just leave my dad and Yuan alone. Yuan didn't even do anything to him."

"Geez, he always seems to piss the wrong person off at the wrong time," Zelos sighed, patting Lloyd's head once to feel the soft brown hair under his fingertips.

"What do you mean? Mithos is the only person that's ever had an issue with him. Yuan tells me everything," Lloyd said, looking up at Zelos and frowning.

"Well, just a few months ago, he was in the hospital for something similar. It was a little before the time that I hired Sheena. He was supposed to help set up an interview for her, but he had gotten into a little fight with some guy that he was dating at the time," Zelos explained.

"D-Dating?! WHAT?! I'm going to kick his ass!" Lloyd yelled suddenly. "After I make sure he's okay of course… But how could he?! He was supposed to be... stupid idiot. No wonder he didn't bother to come over to visit for two years."

"Now that you mention it, I think they'd been dating for about a year and a half before something went wrong," Zelos stated, tapping a finger to his mouth. "What's got you so worked up? You didn't know that he was gay?"

"I knew that a long time ago. I didn't think he would actually _date_ someone while he was gone," Lloyd grumbed. "Plus he told me that he would tell me anything that happened, _anything!_"

"Well, you know, I heard that the relationship he was in wasn't a terribly great one, despite how long it had lasted. He'd sometimes be really upset or grouchy when I'd ask for him to start looking for suitable hires for me, and on other times, he'd be really sad and quiet. It wasn't too often that I'd come in and he'd be happy," Zelos said. "I'd only met the guy twice. Once when he'd come to pick Yuan up from work and another time right before they had their big blowout. He wasn't too nice of a person to be honest."

"You know a lot of people, don't you?"

"My dad tried to raise me as a 'proper' aristocrat when my mom was still alive. We went to the parties and everything. I guess after he left to do whatever the hell he's doing, I sorta kept the ability to meet and greet people," Zelos shrugged.

"So who was the person that dated Yuan? What was his name?" Lloyd asked, poking softly at Zelos's stomach.

-At the hospital-

"C-Cayn?! What are you doing here? Get out of here!" Yuan shouted, sounding very distressed as a man walked into his room. "Nurse! NURSE!"

"Yuan! Calm down! You're going to hurt yourself again!" Kratos snapped, standing up from the chair he'd been sitting in since the blunet had gotten out of the ER. "You're not in any condition to be moving around like that."

"And besides," a deeper, yet more silky voice spoke up. "That's no way to greet someone."

Kratos noted the intense look of fear and loathing on Yuan's face the longer he stared at the man who'd entered the room. Kratos had never seen that sort of expression on Yuan's face before in his life, so he decided to look over to see who exactly it was that had his best friend so worked up.

Auburn eyes looked upward to meet with a dark brown that seemed to hold no immediate emotion in them. They didn't hold much of a reflection, giving them more of a soulless look than necessary. The man's hair was short for the most part, except towards the front where his bangs drooped down far enough to cover his right eye that Kratos could barely see when he was looking directly at him. His hair was almost all black except for the unnatural strip of silver that had randomly placed itself amongst the long bangs. He couldn't have been too much older than Yuan, but at first glance, he appeared to be decently young, despite his towering height. Kratos stood up to greet the man, despite Yuan's instant hostility towards him.

"Hi, my name's Kratos. I'm sorry about Yuan. He doesn't usually act like that," Kratos said, sticking his hand out to shake it with Cayn's.

Almost instantaneously, Cayn's strikingly cold demeanor warmed up, a suave smile sliding onto his face as he accepted the redhead's hand, greeting him back with a curt hello as well as his name. Yuan shifted uncomfortably in his bed as he continued glowering up at Cayn, hoping the man would keep his distance. He wasn't afraid to call in the nurses to escort him out.

"So what happened here, Yuan?" Cayn asked, diverting his attention away from Kratos for a moment. "A lung puncture… that can be quite serious. You're lucky it wasn't too terribly large of a wound, otherwise they may have had to cut you open. That wouldn't have been too much fun with four broken ribs all around where the puncture was. I'm sure the tube they had to stick down your throat to get the blood out of your lungs was bad enough." Yuan didn't say anything in response, and instead just kept on glaring at him. "Tsk, such terrible manners. You never were the best at talking around me when you got upset. That's a bad habit you know. It's better to talk things out when you're upset with someone instead of keeping everything to yourself and then walking out on a serious problem."

Seeing as that Yuan wasn't going to talk and that Kratos was dying with intense curiosity to know what he could about this man, Kratos decided it was okay to speak up.

"I'm sorry, Cayn, I'm afraid Yuan hasn't told me a thing about you," Kratos said. "I guess it's kind of weird, having known Yuan for as long as I have and he hasn't so much as breathed a word to me about you."

"I see. Well, apparently, I'm no one of great importance, not that I can really disagree to be completely honest," Cayn shrugged, turning his attention back to Kratos. "I met Yuan almost two years ago—"

"What are you doing here?" Yuan spat, purposely interrupting the man.

"Goodness, such hostility today," Cayn said, his smile slowly turning into a frown. He didn't seem all too pleased with how Yuan was acting towards him. "I come here in such a hurry to see you after I'm informed from one of the doctors that you're here, and what do I get? First, after getting almost five months of the cold shoulder, the first contact you have with me is such bitter anger. I daresay that's really no way to treat someone as close to you as I am."

"You filthy liar! Get out of my room!" Yuan screamed, pushing at the button at the side of his bed to call in the nearest nurse. When one didn't come by immediately, Yuan resorted to throwing his pillow at Cayn and attempting to get up to shoo him out. Kratos of course rushed over to hold him back carefully to make sure Yuan didn't pull the IV out of his arm or undo any bandages around his chest. "Get out! Fucking piece of shit, GET OUT!"

At long last, a nurse finally appeared, rushing over to Yuan to try and coax the man to settle down and lay back in bed. Once Yuan finally complied, she turned and walked over to Cayn, giving him a small, apologetic bow as she asked him to leave the room so Yuan wouldn't hurt himself physically or send himself into a panic attack. He nodded curtly, letting her know he'd be out momentarily. She smiled politely and walked outside of the room to wait outside the door for him.

"You really should work on those manners, babe. They're really unbecoming for someone as lovely as you," Cayn said, then turning to Kratos. "It nice to finally meet you, Kratos."

"Ah, uh, you too," Kratos replied awkwardly as Cayn quickly exited the room. All his attention was immediately turned towards Yuan, who was angrily staring at the door, making sure Cayn didn't turn around to come back in. "What in Martel's name was that all about?! Who the hell was that man?!"

"It's as he said," Yuan growled unintentionally. "He's no one important, and I really don't like him. That should be enough for right now."

"Enough? That explains nothing to me!" Kratos snapped, successfully resulting in Yuan turning to look up at him. "How am I supposed to accept that sort of reaction out of you when someone I've never even heard of before walks into the room!? You always have a good reason for acting the way you do, be it good or bad, so just telling me you don't like someone and they aren't important isn't good enough for me!"

"Kratos, I—"

"So what about the whole 'babe' thing, huh?" Kratos continued, angry for being brushed off. "Who IS that man? What is he to you?!"

"Kratos, this really shouldn't be—"

Kratos fell to his knees at Yuan's bedside, clutching the sheets covering Yuan tightly in his hands. Yuan noticed the man start shaking. Even if he couldn't tell if the quivering was a result of his very sudden anger or a sudden wave or sadness, Yuan felt the need to shift himself around in the bed and lay on his side so he could pat Kratos's head a little easier. He'd hoped that he wouldn't have had to tell the story on where he'd been for the past two years, nor what had happened within that time span, but it seemed that hope had flown out the window the very second he's started yelling at Cayn. However, he wanted to wait until he would be admitted home to start talking about anything, which wouldn't be until the next day so the doctors would be able to see how Yuan was doing.

"I'm sorry," Yuan apologized quietly, still stroking at Kratos's hair. "Just… bear with my selfishness for a little while longer. I'll tell you everything at home tomorrow, okay?" He felt Kratos nod under his hand, his face still buried into the sheets. "… I love you, Kratos."

Those words made Kratos snap his head up from the bed, his face bright red and his cheeks stained with tears. There was a small, melancholic smile on Yuan's face as he reached his hand over to wipe away the tears from Kratos's cheeks with his thumb. Before he was done though, Kratos leaned up and kissed Yuan for a split second. There was a small sheepish smile on the redhead's face as he pulled away to stare into Yuan's eyes.

"Ah, now I see why you got so mad," a familiar voice spoke up.

Kratos had just about fainted when he saw who'd entered the room this time. How could he have forgotten that his own son was going to be coming over to visit Yuan for a while after he'd gotten word that Yuan was out of the ER? Lloyd wasn't showing much of a reaction though, other than his jaw dropping and then immediately covering his eyes. Zelos, the one who'd spoken up upon entering the room, only chuckled.

"Ugh, DAD! Couldn't you wait til you got home to do any shit like that?!" Lloyd said, still covering his eyes. "Geeeez, are you frikkin kidding me?!"

"Oh come one Lloyd, it's not that bad," Zelos grinned, making Yuan frown.

"Yeah, you can say that again," the blunet mumbled, tossing a glare over in Zelos's direction. "It's not like you haven't ever seen anyone kiss someone, Lloyd."

"People at school are _different_!" Lloyd wailed, finally uncovering his face. "We're talking about my dad here!"

"What, he's not allowed to kiss anyone?" Zelos asked, curiously.

"Not in front of me!"

"And why's that?"

"Imagine your dad walking up to some lady and seeing him start kissing her," Lloyd frowned. Zelos felt a shiver run down his spine as he tried his best to block the mental image Lloyd had so kindly put in his mind. "You get what I mean?"

"Yeah, well, at least your dad is good looking," Zelos shuddered.

"Are you okay Kratos?" Yuan asked, ignoring Zelos and Lloyd as they continued on. He'd noticed that the auburn haired man had sort of shrunk down to the bottom of the bed, hiding his face. "Kratos?

"Yeah," Kratos managed to choke out, still too embarrassed to show his face yet. "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Mhmm," the man nodded in response.

Zelos watched the two as they spoke, nodding every once in a while to acknowledge Lloyd as he continued to talk. He'd seen Cayn walking past them as they were being shown to Yuan's room, noticing that he didn't appear to be too terribly pleased with whatever he'd just seen, heard, or done. Part of him started to wonder if the two had officially broken off after they had their fight, not that Zelos particularly blamed Yuan for not wanting to confront Cayn about it if they hadn't. He remembered when Yuan had come back to work that he was covered in bruises and bandages and that he wasn't as chatty as he'd been before Cayn had roughed him up.

From what he was able to pick up on Cayn from Yuan when they'd talk, he knew the man was obsessive, but not to the point that he would show it in public. Yuan had mentioned the reason they'd started fighting so much was because Cayn didn't want him going anywhere or doing much of anything without him somewhere nearby. Apparently Yuan didn't like that too much, since he'd had someone he wanted to see by himself, so Cayn overreacted and hit Yuan. The blunet had skipped out on most of the details, but in the end, Cayn had gotten to the point that he'd pinned Yuan to the ground and had hit him so hard across the head that he'd blacked out. Of course, Cayn had the decency to rush him to the hospital afterwards to make sure he was okay, but as soon as Yuan had woken up, he declared he didn't want to be anywhere near him for a long time.

"_Maybe he didn't really break up with him, so Cayn came by to see if he would be okay with being near him again,_" Zelos thought to himself. "_I'm sure Lloyd will get some sort of explanation out of him eventually, so I probably shouldn't bother asking._"

Once Zelos started paying attention to what was going around him again, he noticed Lloyd had abandoned him to sit over by Yuan and pick up a little conversation about what had happened. After Yuan was done with his story, which Zelos could tell he'd shortened it quite a bit by leaving a few bits and pieces out, the blunet urged Lloyd to go on about what had happened at school that day. Zelos turned his attention towards the conversation, seeing as that he didn't really get too terribly much out of Lloyd on what had happened. Kratos perked up as well, finally showing a small portion of his face.

So Lloyd told his story, tapping his feet uncomfortably at the floor. Zelos desperately wanted to walk over to him and comfort him as he told the story about what occurred that morning, but he was weary about how Kratos would react. If any of what Lloyd and Yuan had warned him about was true [don't forget Raine you silly boy], Zelos probably wouldn't have liked the outcome of Kratos's opinion on what was going to be. So instead of going over and hugging the boy like he wanted too, he just leaned back against the doorframe, listening to the story as it unfolded. The more he listened to it though, the angrier he found himself becoming.

From what he could infer, with Lloyd dodging the fact that they were dating, the three boys who'd attacked him that morning had no reason whatsoever to do what they did to Lloyd, other than the fact that he and Lloyd were going out and they didn't like it. He couldn't see why people could be so unable to be just a little willing to accept someone that had different views. Hell, Zelos would've been happy if they'd just ignored the difference if they were so against it instead of flat out rejecting it and pinning their rejection all on Lloyd. _His_ Lloyd. His Lloyd that he found himself adoring more than any person he could remember.

The redhead bitterly sighed, holding back the urge to pick up the empty chair sitting out in the hallway and throwing it at the nurse's station. How he wished that he would've been there that morning to make sure Lloyd was going to be okay. Then the incident would've never happened and Lloyd would've been able to go through the day with a smile on his face and no tears in his eyes. Zelos could remember his heart clenching when Lloyd had grabbed him and had started crying about what one of the boys had said to him, saying he wasn't 'normal' and such.

"_I'll make sure that asshole gets expelled from our school for good,_" Zelos growled mentally to himself, a look of disgust on his face. "_I can't believe that prick would say something like that to Lloyd. He probably hadn't even known him before I publicly announced that we'd started dating. Ugh, people can be so awful._"

"So where was Zelos when all of this was happening?" Yuan spoke up loudly to make sure that he'd catch said person's attention.

"Stupid family business. My dad was trying to be the asshole he usually is and went on about how my sister deserves more of the share of money that was passed down to me. Of course, as soon as I found out about what had happened, I told him to shove a sock in it and got to the school as fast as I could," Zelos explained, catching the small hint of disappointment in Yuan's voice. "Hell, if I had known that was going to happen, I'd have come over and taken Lloyd to school myself and requested that I keep an eye on him. If I was there, that shit never would've happened." He turned to Lloyd and smiled some. "I would never wish any harm on him… ever."

Lloyd smiled shyly at the remark, trying to hide his blush to keep Kratos or Yuan from seeing. Of course, Yuan noticed, but let it go, seeing as that Zelos was trying to cheer Lloyd up some. Kratos however, had completely missed his son's reaction and was staring up very intently up at Zelos. The redhead caught on to that, and smiled nervously over at him.

"I'm glad he's got you as a friend," Kratos said suddenly, catching both Lloyd and Zelos off guard. "I trust you to look after him when he needs it."

"Ah, hahahaha, of course!" Zelos replied, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I'll try a little harder to be there more often when he needs it though. I don't want him getting into to any more trouble."

"_He doesn't seem to be too upset that Lloyd and I are getting as close as we are. I wonder why they think he'd freak out if he found out he was dating me?_" Zelos thought to himself. "_I probably don't want to go there right now though. Not so early… even if we walked in on him giving Yuan a little love. So not fair._"

"So are you going to be okay, Yuan?" Lloyd asked, trying to pull the attention away from Zelos, which the redhead was thankful for.

"Yeah, I'm going to be just fine. I'm probably going to be in bed for a few days, seeing as that the doctors recommend that I don't do too much moving around," Yuan said. "I don't see how any cooking is going to get done though. I've been teaching your dad here and there, but I haven't gotten him on anything big yet."

"We've lasted two years without you cooking Mithos. I'm sure we'll be fine while you're recovering," Kratos mentioned, making a grab at Yuan's hand.

"Ugh, I'll just stay with Zelos all week, thanks," Lloyd frowned at his father. A nearly identical glare was sent right back over at Lloyd.

"And why would that be?"

"Because, Sebastian can cook much better food than the barely audible stuff you make," Lloyd frowned.

"Then you admit that you can eat it."

"Only because I don't want to starve to death."

"Hey Lloyd," Zelos spoke up.

"Huh?" Lloyd quickly turned his head over to Zelos to see what he wanted to say.

"I think we should leave your father and Yuan alone for a little bit. I wanna talk to you about something really fast. We'll come back in here before we leave. I'm sure Sebastian is getting rather bored waiting for us in the car," the redhead said, motioning for Lloyd to step outside of the room with him for a moment.

Lloyd was quick to comply and follow his boyfriend out into the hallway. Zelos gently closed the door behind them once Lloyd had made it out of the room. Almost immediately, Zelos grabbed the brunet and kissed him. It was a quick kiss, but much needed in Zelos's opinion. The brunet allowed it, a little red in the face that a few passing nurses had seen the affectionate action, but for the most part, the kiss made him smile.

"I've been wanting to do that for a little while," Zelos grinned, peeking back into the window to the room to see if either men inside had noticed. Kratos seemed to have started a small conversation with Yuan, so Zelos sighed, seeing as that he was in the clear. "So, anyways, since your dad and Yuan got together, do you think that Kratos would be a little more tolerable of us being a couple? I mean, he seems to be happy that I'm around you as often as I am." The hopeful feeling Zelos had swelling in his chest deflated as soon as Lloyd shook his head back and forth. "But why? He seems to be just—"

"I don't know Zelos. I wouldn't rush things with him. I'd prefer to get him a little more warmed up to you, even if he's finally started to like Yuan," Lloyd mumbled, a little upset himself about having to hide their relationship.

"Ah, that's such crap," Zelos pouted. "It'd be cool to have your dad as some sort of father-in-law. He was really cool back when he was help—." But Zelos stopped himself short when he saw Cayn again, speaking to someone who looked fairly familiar. And then he saw a glimpse of orange. "Hey, I'll be right back."

"What, where are you going?"

"Just go back inside the room and close the door, okay? I promise I'll be right back. There's someone I want to talk to."

Zelos didn't give Lloyd an opportunity to so much as think up a response before he walked off, leaving the brunet with a puzzled expression on his face. Even though Lloyd felt the need to follow Zelos, he thought it best that he listened to the redhead, so he opened the door to walk into the room. He grimaced a little when he saw Yuan holding his dad's hand in his and planting small kisses around the fingers. Kratos was quick to hiding his face again.

Once Zelos reached the two, he glared over at Phoenix, earning a cocky grin as a response. Zelos wasn't in the mood to put up with whatever he had to say, though he'd have to tone his anger down quite a bit since they were still in a hospital. Cayn looked a bit unhappy to have someone he didn't immediately recognize walk in between him and someone else that he was holding a conversation with.

"Excuse me," Cayn spoke up, coldly glaring at Zelos. "What are you doing?"

"Just wondering what you two gentlemen are talking about," Zelos smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Though I could really care less what you're saying to be honset. I'm a little more interested to see this asshole here." Zelos turned his gaze over to Phoenix. "Since I know where you are, you'd best be careful on how you act. Wouldn't want it to slip that you put some drugs into a minor's drink to try and get him to do what you wanted now would we?"

Now it was Phoenix's turn to frown. Zelos's grin only widened when he saw Phoenix's upper lip twitch, since he'd clearly been pissed off.

"What do you want, Wilder?" Phoenix growled.

"Ah," Cayn spoke up before Zelos could answer. "I recognize you. You're the one that used to go to Yuan for new hires. So _you're_ the one dating Kratos's son."

Zelos blinked, a little confused as to how he knew about that. Of course, Phoenix may have mentioned him kissing Lloyd at the dance club, but that would've been a strange thing to mention to someone that hardly knew anything about Lloyd or himself. A thin red eyebrow raised in question, wondering how this man knew about their relationship.

"I apologize, I guess you don't really know me," Cayn apologized, though he didn't appear to be all too terribly sorry to Zelos. "Phoenix and I have been talking with each other for a while. He's mentioned quite a few things to me about the two of you, seeing as that he's none too fond of the relationship you have with Lloyd."

"Though I should really thank him," Zelos huffed. "He was a big help into pushing Lloyd into going out with me."

Phoenix looked like he was about to tackle Zelos and try to give him a piece of his mind, but when a group of doctors walked by, throwing the three men friendly smiles, the orange haired man held himself back, but not without throwing the dirtiest glare he could muster up at Zelos. The redhead simply grinned and then turned his attention back to Cayn.

"I could really care less what he thinks though. I'm much more curious, why would you even care to know about me and Lloyd anyways?" Zelos asked. "I'm fairly sure you've never met him before, and you barely know me, other than what this sad excuse of a human being is telling you."

"I have my reasons, Zelos," the much older man chuckled. The look on Cayn's face was enough to make a cold feeling tingle down Zelos's spine. "It's nothing you should be concerning yourself with right now though. Your adorable little brunet looked a little shaken upon getting here. You may want to go and comfort him some. It's best to keep a close eye on someone as cute as he is."

"Yeah, unless you want someone coming up when you least expect it and stealing him away from you," Phoenix cackled at Zelos, his prideful grin returning.

"If you lay another finger on him, don't expect me to not say anything about what happened at the club," Zelos growled.

"Better be on your way then," Cayn said through a soulless grin. "Keep your eyes open and your mind ready. You never know when you'll need to keep a level head in a sticky situation."

"You're a real creep, you know that?" Zelos frowned. "Don't you get anywhere near Lloyd, you hear me? Either of you."

"Now, now, sometimes that just can't be helped, now can it?"

Zelos had had just about enough of the strange exchange of dialogue they'd been having, so he said a short good-bye and hastily excused himself. Something about what Cayn was saying to him had thrown Zelos way off. He'd initially thought he was just going to come over and smack talk to Phoenix and warn him to make sure he didn't let himself come anywhere near Lloyd's line of vision, but he hadn't expected Cayn to say things quite so… disturbing.

"I need to get Lloyd out of here. If he so much as sees Phoenix, I can already tell nothing good is going to come of it," Zelos muttered to himself as he reached Yuan's room. He turned around to see if Phoenix and Cayn had walked off, but when he found they were actually looking over in his direction, a sickening wave of uneasiness rushed over him. "Fucking creeps. What the hell are they up to…?"

Just as Zelos reached down to twist the doorknob and enter the room, he found the door seemingly swinging itself open, revealing that Lloyd was coming out to see where Zelos had gone off to. Once Lloyd saw the redhead, he greeted him with a smile and walked out of the room, leaving the door open this time.

"You wanna go back to your place? Yuan insists that we get going as soon as we can so we don't keep Sebastian waiting for too long," Lloyd said.

"Oh, ah, sure. The sooner the better actually," Zelos replied, sticking his head into the room. "I'll be sure to drop him off at your house tomorrow after school." Kratos nodded and waved over at the two in dismissal. "Get to feeling better man."

"I'll be okay. Keep Lloyd safe, and happy," Yuan said in response, waving along with Kratos. "Get going. You shouldn't keep Sebastian waiting any longer."

Zelos simply nodded and wrapped his arm around Lloyd's shoulder to lead him out of the hospital, making sure to keep as far away from Phoenix and Cayn as he possibly could. Lloyd didn't seem to notice that Zelos was trying to deter him from an unwanted confrontation. Instead, once he was sure they were far enough away from Yuan's room, he grabbed at the arm Zelos had thrown around his shoulder to grab at his hand and lace their fingers together. That got a small smile out of Zelos as they finally exited the building. Before they went out to find the car Sebastian had driven them over in, Zelos stopped walking, making Lloyd turn to face him to see what was going on.

"I'm going to keep you safe, Lloyd," Zelos whispered just loud enough for Lloyd to hear. "I… ah, hell… I'm going to make sure no one hurts you ever again. I promise you."

"Pinky swear?" Lloyd smiled, holding out his free hand and extending his pinky.

"Goddess, you're so adorable. I pinky swear," Zelos agreed, intertwining their pinkies for a brief moment. "Come on, let's get going."

"You're the one that stopped us," Lloyd frowned.

"That's beside the point. Come on! I'll get Sebastian to make us some sort of strawberry dessert for tonight after dinner. We've got some movies to get watching!"

As the two reached the car, Zelos noticed at the corner of his eye that agitating fleck of orange and turned around to glance as it after he opened the car door for Lloyd to go through. Sure enough, Phoenix was standing outside the building, staring over at him and Lloyd as they got into the car. Once Zelos's eyes met up with Phoenix's though, the oranget appeared to have laughed once or twice, and then turned around to go back into the building. An uncomfortable feeling was starting to settle itself deep in Zelos's stomach as he watched the man turn back into the hospital, and it made him want to make sure Lloyd was with him twenty-four seven so nothing happened to him.

"You coming Zelos?" Lloyd asked eagerly, completely oblivious to the feeling tearing away at Zelos's insides.

"Of course," Zelos answered. "I'll always be just a moment away."

End of Chapter Thirteen

**I hope you enjoyed it :'D It's a tad shorter than most of the chapters, but not by too terribly much x3 I can't wait to see what all of you think ^^ By the way, if you'd like to see some of my art for my original characters, such as Cayn and Phoenix, as well as some Zelloyd fanart, be sure to look me up on Deviantart :D My username is still banANNU :3 I'll see you all next time! **


	14. Chaptero catorce

Chapter 14  
The New Job

Author :: banANNU

Rated :: M

**Kinda skipping out on the review responses this chapter Q . Q I promise I'll reply to them next chapter. I'm just kinda wanting to get this posted because I feel REALLY bad for making all of you wait so long to read it D: I'll try not to let it happen again. X_X**

Disclaimer ::  
Once again, I'm sorry for making you guys wait so long to read this. I've been super busy at my new job (that pays really good btw * ^ *), so I haven't been able to really write as much as I've wanted to. I'm only getting one day off a week (because I'm still working a little bit at Kmart), so I'm pretty much booked all the time. Anyways, I'm not going to make a super long disclaimer since you guys probably just want to read the chapter, so…  
I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of its characters. I am not making money by writing this fiction.

**WARNING :: BUTTS AND NAKEDNESS AHEAD! … No sex though :"D Sorry.**

Enjoy!  
Chapter 14

Light Bondage  
(mmm…kinky)

"Five more minutes," Zelos groaned grumpily. "You're so comfy, Lloyd. I don't wanna let go. You can't make me."

For the past ten minutes, after Sebastian had politely stirred Lloyd from his sleep, the brunet had been trying to get Zelos up and out of bed so that they could get ready for school, but that had proven to be difficult since Zelos had, at some point while they were sleeping, embraced Lloyd securely into his arms and up against his chest. Lloyd had, at first, tried to simply slip out of Zelos's grip, but when he had tried that, the redhead's hold tightened, keeping Lloyd from doing much of anything other than groan at Zelos to wake up and let him go. But even upon waking up, Zelos fully discovered how comfy he'd made himself and wasn't exactly too keen on letting that comfort slip away from him too quickly.

"Zelos, we have to get ready for school," Lloyd tried to reason.

"School and everyone there can kiss my ass," Zelos mumbled, nuzzling his face into Lloyd's hair. "You smell so good babe." Zelos's grip on the boy managed to tighten somehow. "It makes me want to eat you all up." A pause. "You know, that doesn't sound like too bad of an idea…"

As Zelos let his sentence trail off, Lloyd felt a very sudden warm and wet sensation at the back of his neck right under his hairline, making goose bumps run all the way up his arms and legs. Lloyd tried his best to turn around to see what exactly it was that Zelos was doing, but the redhead was determined to keep Lloyd from stopping him.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Lloyd asked, still squirming around frantically in Zelos's arms.

"Just tasting you," Zelos bluntly replied, running his tongue across the slightly tanned skin. "It's so soft, and you taste so yummy."

"Zelos!"

"Why can't I?" Zelos whined, breathing heavily across the wet mark he'd left on Lloyd's neck. "What if I let you do something to me? Will that make up for it?"

Lloyd's face went bright red as Zelos leaned over to stare sleepily into his eyes. Some strands of red hair dripped over onto his face, tickling his nose a bit, so Lloyd brushed his hand at his face to get the hair from tickling him again.

"It's too early for this Zelos," Lloyd said, averting his eyes and looking longingly at the bathroom door all the way at the other side of the room. "Really, we should be getting ready to go to school. I'm sure we've got lots of… home… work…"

The younger boy found himself getting distracted as Zelos released him and sat up in bed and started removing his sleep shirt. He found himself staring at Zelos, who only grinned with pride as he saw his boyfriend's eyes glued to his bare chest. Lloyd's face flushed even more as Zelos reached over to pull him up and grab his hands to place them on his chest.

"Touch me, hun," Zelos smirked, gently releasing Lloyd's hands to do as they wanted. But instead of roaming around and exploring the new territory, it appeared that Lloyd had completely frozen in place. He hadn't even moved to take his hands off of Zelos. "You're so adorable when you're trying to figure out what to do." One of Zelos's hands reached up to Lloyd's left hand and pulled it away from the skin it was touching so he could place a small kiss on his wrist. "Fine, we can get going to school, if you really want to."

Brown eyes darted nervously up into blue, resulting in a soft smile on Zelos's part. He leaned in and kissed Lloyd once on the forehead and once on each cheek. Zelos could feel the heat from the blush on his boyfriend's face, making his grin become even larger than ever. The innocence that radiated from this boy, his adorable little Lloyd, was incredible.

"Goddess, you're adorable," Zelos smiled, ruffling Lloyd's hair and jumping out of the bed. "I'm so glad your dad let you stay the night. I slept so much better than I did last night. In fact, I don't think I've ever slept so soundly when someone else was with me… or when I was by myself…"

"That can't be true," Lloyd said, still blushing.

There was a small silence that fell over the two as Zelos stared down at Lloyd with a gentle look in his eyes. A tender smile slid onto Zelos's face as he looked down at Lloyd's face and brought his hand up to touch the boy's cheeks.

"_I… I think I love him,_" Zelos thought, outstretching his arms and grabbing Lloyd to pull him close and hug him. "_He's so soft… adorable… cute… he's so…_"

"Perfect…," Zelos muttered into Lloyd's hair as he hugged him.

"What is?" Lloyd questioned.

"Ah, uhm, your hair," Zelos said, fumbling together an answer. "It's really soft, and smells really good, like I'd said."

"_This is impossible. It's only been a few days since we started going out and I'm already thinking that I love him? What's gotten over me? What is it about this boy that's got me so fixated on him?_" Lloyd looked up to Zelos, blinking his eyes owlishly, wondering what Zelos meant by his hair. "_He's so cute!_"

And with that, Zelos tackled Lloyd back to the bed and started to smother him in sloppy and loving kisses. Lloyd was right back to where he started, and it didn't seem that they were going to be getting anywhere any time soon. So the brunet gave in and decided to wait until Sebastian came back up to check on them and remind them that they needed to get up to get to school on time. He didn't mind the attention Zelos was giving him as much as he did when it had first started, but he wanted to know what was on Zelos's mind when he would simply stare at him as if there was something on his face.

Soon enough, Sebastian knocked, successfully spooking Zelos off of Lloyd and out of the bed to start to get ready. Lloyd watched, snuggling into the sheets for just a little longer so he could enjoy the fabric against his face and hands. He'd wanted to sleep without his shirt on in the sheets so he could feel the silk all over his chest and back, but he was embarrassed about the idea about Zelos sleeping next to him while he was sleeping without a shirt. Sure, he'd been around plenty of guys in a locker room with no more than his boxers on, but the way Zelos suggestively looked at him while he was changing into pajamas was more than enough to make him keep his shirt on. He knew Zelos wasn't going to do anything to him, especially while he was sleeping, but if Zelos had grabbed him like he did that night and he was shirtless, he could only imagine his boyfriend waking up and randomly groping him while he slept.

Zelos was just about to head into the bathroom when he stopped to glance back over at Lloyd as he rolled around on the sheets, smiling the whole time. Then, an idea flickered in the redhead's mind while he walked over to the bed. He leaned over Lloyd, just watching him, waiting until the brunet noticed his presence. It wasn't too long before Lloyd noticed the startling blue eyes staring down at him and paused his frolicking in the bed sheets.

"Yes?" Lloyd asked, he cheeks faintly red.

"Oh, nothing. Just let me…," Zelos trailed off as he tackled Lloyd to the bed and stripped him of his shirt.

"Wh-what are you d-doing?!" Lloyd exclaimed, covering himself with the sheets and his cheeks turning the reddest color they could get to. It was then that Lloyd stopped and had just about melted into the silk. "Goddess…"

"If we had more time, I'd tie you up with the sheets and such and just rub the covers over you," Zelos chuckled. "So I guess you really do have a little silk fetish. Kinda sexy if I do say so myself."

Lloyd had nothing to say in his defense, not that he was paying too much attention to what Zelos had to say. He was too lost in the folds of the bedding to catch the suggestive hint. Zelos rolled his eyes and trekked into the bathroom to take his shower and freshen up while he left Lloyd to his fun.

"_I wonder what it is about him that's got me thinking about him so often. I want to ravish him with everything I can, spoil him rotten. I want to make him feel pleasure beyond anything he could ever imagine, but I also want to keep him as innocent as I can,_" Zelos thought, closing the bathroom door behind him. "_I want to make sure he stays mine and only mine, and I want keep it that way forever._"

There was knocking at the door.

"I haven't even turned on the shower yet," Zelos teased at the knock. "What do you need hun?"

"I was just wondering what I could wear?" Lloyd asked.

"Choose anything you like. Of course, you could just wait in bed until I'm done with my shower so you can clean up and I can choose one out for you if you'd like," Zelos proposed. "You do seem to like what I pick out for you when you wear it."

"Will I be able to have enough time to shower after you're done? You did take quite a while to get out of bed."

"Well, you are taking up my shower time by talking to me through the door my dear," Zelos smirked. "Of course, you can join me in the shower so we can take up less time than we would if we showered separately."

"I-I don't know about that. You might get distracted," Lloyd stammered, blushing.

"Oh, I wouldn't get too distracted unless you went through the trouble of making sure to divert my attention away from getting cleaned off," Zelos said. "You sure you don't want to join me?"

"I wouldn't have to try to get you distracted."

Zelos opened the door and pulled Lloyd into the bathroom and pinned him against the wall, covering him with rough kisses. The initial noise from Lloyd was a surprised gasp, but it was quickly drowned out with pleasurable moans.

"I'm not hearing a no," Zelos whispered, biting suggestively at his lip. He stared down hungrily at the brunet, waiting for a more direct answer. "You can't tease me like this hunny. It's mean."

Lloyd didn't fully understand at first, but when he felt something hard poking at one of his legs, he looked down to find out exactly what Zelos had meant. Lloyd had never felt his face burn quite as bad as it was at that moment in time as he processed what was going on and debating on what he should do. He knew Zelos wouldn't force him against his will, but something about the longing on Zelos's face had Lloyd wanting to satisfy the redhead's urges.

"M-Maybe next time," Lloyd stuttered, nuzzling his face into Zelos's neck.

"Nnnnn, you are so lucky. If I didn't care what you thought, I'd have already dragged you into that shower babe," Zelos groaned. "I want you so bad." Zelos had started to whisper into Lloyd's ear with a very breathy voice so he would just barely tickle the boy's ears while he would gently caress Lloyd's chest with his hands. That resulted in Lloyd letting out a small mewl and reaching up to Zelos's back to dig his nails into the skin. "Can… can I at least look at you? You know… without anything on? Just a peek?"

"Seeing does lead to much more if I remember correctly, Master Zelos," Sebastian's voice suddenly came from behind the door. Lloyd had just about fainted when he heard the friendly words of advice and Zelos was the one to break his fall and make sure he didn't pass out in his arms. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything. I just wanted to know if you were both up and to let you know that I've put together a small breakfast."

"Ah, thanks Sebastian. We'll be done in no time at all," Zelos said, rubbing at Lloyd's back to comfort him from the shock. "Give us about ten to fifteen minutes and we'll both be showered and ready."

"That's just fine, sir. Oh, do try to keep things to a minimum though. Yuan called none too long ago to tell me to relay that message to you. I'll leave you to finish up, so I'll be downstairs if you need anything."

Immediately after Sebastian finished his sentence, footsteps were heard walking away from the door. Zelos turned all his attention to Lloyd to see how he was recovering from his near heart attack. He had seemed to have recovered fairly quickly for the most part and was staring back up at Zelos for some sort of direction on what to do next.

"Geez, Yuan doesn't know when to quit, does he? Anyways, you heard what I told him. Get in the shower cutie," Zelos smiled, nudging the boy over to the shower.

"Wait, what? Aren't you going to shower first?" Lloyd questioned.

"I told him we'd both be done in about fifteen minutes," Zelos grinned.

"So… We're showering… together…"

"If you want to, you can get in first and turn the heat up so the steam can cover you up for the most part." Lloyd's eyes had widened to the size of dinner plates. "Oh, you know I'm not going to do anything to you except wash your back if you ask me to. Strip in the shower and toss the little bit of clothes you are wearing over the door if you're so worried."

Lloyd sighed, shrugged his shoulders and went into the shower. Not too long after the door had closed, pajama pants and then boxers were thrown over the door for Zelos to catch and then discard haphazardly toss to the floor. After that, the shower was turned on and steam almost immediately poured over the top of the door and filling the bathroom. Zelos was then given the okay to come in, granted it was a very quiet and shy signal, which only brought butterflies to the redhead's chest as he walked into the shower to join Lloyd.

At first glance, Zelos couldn't see much of anything, but as his eyes adjusted to the hot steam rolling everywhere inside the shower, he noticed Lloyd standing in the far corner of the shower, facing the corner as if he were a child being put in time out. Zelos chuckled as he walked up behind the boy to tap his shoulder lightly.

"Hey, Bud?" Zelos asked, a hint of question in his voice.

"Zelos…," Lloyd answered.

"Guess what?"

"… What?"

"You're hot naked."

The brunet whirled around and Zelos was quick to notice the only color on the boy's face was bright red. Some of the coloration had probably been a result of the intense heat in the shower, but Zelos knew where most of it had originated, making him grin a cocky and prideful grin. He tried to look further down to see more of the brunet, but his suggestion to turn the hot water up nearly all the way was working exactly how it was meant to work. Zelos was having trouble seeing past the boy's chest.

"Don't act so shocked. You knew it was coming," Zelos smiled, picking up some shampoo. "I hope you're okay with using my stuff today."

After Zelos was done getting a good glob of shampoo in his hands, he handed the bottle over to Lloyd, who took it with both hands and accidentally squirted a few bubbles out of the top of the shampoo bottle. Zelos shook his head as Lloyd watched the bubbles fly up into the air and then pout as they popped from the water splashing onto them.

"Your hair is so long," Lloyd suddenly said, reaching out to run his fingers through the red soapy strands. "How do you put up with it being so long? Doesn't it get in the way?"

"Heh, that's why I wear my bandanna all the time. It helps keep any unnecessary hair out of my face. I barely ever put it up or style it, so that bandanna is fairly handy," Zelos explained. "It's nice having long hair though. I think I've mentioned it before, but you should totally grow your hair out. Not too long, but I think a little extra length will definitely add to your sexiness."

"I can't stand it being too long though," Lloyd frowned, still playing with Zelos's hair, seeming to have forgotten about needing to take care of his own hair. "Once all my bangs start to cover my eyes, I just can't put up with it. I don't like when it pokes at my eyes."

"Ah, the middle stage. That is the most aggravating part when one grows out their hair. I don't see how your dad puts up with it like he does." Zelos glanced over at Lloyd, tugging his hair out of the boy's hands. "Have you put anything in your hair yet?" Lloyd shook his head back and forth. "Goob, turn around and let me take care of it for you."

Zelos reached over to the forgotten shampoo and poured a small amount into his hand and scrubbed his hands together. He then went to work on lathering the bubbles and soap into the soft brown hair, working his fingers gently through the boy's scalp to make sure he got every bit of Lloyd's hair. Lloyd appeared to be enjoying himself, at least Zelos thought he was since he saw a rather pleasurable look on the boy's face. There were no cries of protests or sudden jerks to get away, so Zelos continued on until he was certain the boy's hair was completely soaked with his shampoo.

"Okay, rinse it out. Make sure you don't get any in your eyes though. It may make your hair super soft and clean, but it hurts like hell when it gets to your eyes."

As Lloyd carefully washed his hair out, Zelos watched, reaching his hand out to poke at the boy's side. The boy yelped at the sudden jab at his ribs and jumped away from the water that had been pouring onto him. He then turned over to glare disapprovingly at Zelos.

"What was that for?" he snapped at the redhead who was closing in on him.

"Your hair looks so sexy when it's all wet," Zelos murmured as his response. His eyes darted over to the heart-shaped hickey on Lloyd's collarbone. "It is so hard to keep my hands off you when you look so seductive."

Before Lloyd was allowed to say anything back, Zelos reached down with one of his hands, sliding it to Lloyd's thigh, teasing the sensitive skin by barely brushing his fingers over it. His other hand reached behind Lloyd's neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. Lloyd was hasty to reply, opening his mouth and allowing Zelos entrance to taste him better. Unfortunately, this only worsened Zelos's longing to take Lloyd right there in the shower and make him his, but he was going to have to show some self control, especially since they only had about ten more minutes before they were going to have to get out of the shower.

Zelos was very aware of his growing arousal, and was having a difficult time hiding it from Lloyd, but as he tried to hide the erection, he'd actually felt something poking at his own leg. A wide grin slid onto Zelos's face as he started to lean onto Lloyd. There was a small gasp from Lloyd as he broke away from their kiss and looked down to see what Zelos was doing.

"Ze… Zelos," Lloyd groaned, slipping his hands behind Zelos's head to entangle his fingers into the long red hair. Zelos could feel Lloyd's fingers twitching behind his neck. "It… it feels…"

"You want me to take care of it for you?" Zelos whispered into Lloyd's ear. He felt his hair being pulled at as the boy balled it into his fists. "I'll make it feel really good."

"What are you going to do?" Lloyd asked, his eyes in a half-lidded stare.

"Well, do you remember that blowjob thing I was talking about out on our date the other night?" Zelos asked, sneaking a lick at the boy's earlobe. A moan and then a nod was his response. "It'll make you feel much better… plus it'll take care of your little… problem down there."

The redhead made an 'accidental' slip from Lloyd's inner thigh upwards and brushing just barely past the boy's member. Another sharp intake of air was heard, and Lloyd started to bite down hard on his own lip, trying hard to hold back another noise.

"No, no we can't," Lloyd said as quickly as he could, releasing Zelos's hair and gently pushing the other away from him. "Yuan… Yuan said we shouldn't do anything. I want to respect what he wants." Apologetic brown eyes stared up at Zelos, and the redhead was having a hard time telling if there were any tears in them. "We need to… slow down…"

"I'm sorry," Zelos apologized.

"What for?"

"Trying to push this on you." Zelos took a few steps back and grabbed the conditioner to put some of the contents of the bottle in his hair. "I want to hold back, I really do, but there's just this thing about you. I want to make you feel absolutely amazing, but there's this feeling or something that makes me want to keep you as innocent as I possibly can." Once he was done putting the conditioner in his hair, he turned his attention back on Lloyd, who seemed to be waiting to have his turn with the bottle. As Lloyd fumbled with the bottle and poured some conditioner into his hand, Zelos softly smiled. "How about I just give you a hug?"

"But we're in the shower…," Lloyd trailed off, staring up at Zelos a little uncertain about the question.

"So? It'll be the sexiest hug you've ever gotten," Zelos grinned, throwing a wink at the brunet.

"I'm not sure about naked hugs right now, Zelos," Lloyd said, frowning.

"Aw, okay, fine. Could I at least wash your back?"

The two paused their conversation so Lloyd could think of his answer. Zelos crossed his fingers, hoping Lloyd wouldn't mind too much. The redhead eagerly looked to Lloyd to see if he had decided on an answer, and when the younger reached over for a loofah and the body wash, Zelos grinned triumphantly and took the items from Lloyd.

"I'll make sure not to miss a single spot!" Zelos smiled, pouring some of the body wash onto the fluffy sponge-like item.

Once done lathering up the bubbles onto the loofah, Zelos set the body wash aside and started scrubbing in gentle circles on Lloyd's back. Almost immediately, Lloyd's shoulders slumped into a more relaxed position, making Zelos smile at the reaction. He started up at the base of the brunet's hairline and then worked his way down to the shoulders. Zelos ran his fingers over them, enjoying the slick, soapy feel. But he moved past them and down past his shoulder blades and along the boy's spine.

Since he was close enough, Zelos was starting to see past the immense amount of steam to notice the smooth curvature of Lloyd's behind. The redhead unconsciously licked at his lips, wondering if Lloyd would let him so far as to letting him touch it.

"How you doing Bud?" Zelos decided to ask.

"Huh?" Lloyd said, snapping back to reality. "Sorry, I kinda drifted off there for a moment. This feels a lot better than I thought it would." Another prideful grin on Zelos's part. "Are you done?"

"Oh, no, I was just wondering how you were doing. Just wanted to make sure you hadn't passed out standing up. That would be odd now, wouldn't it?"

"Oh, well, if you're not done, I won't stop you," Lloyd smiled, still fairly relaxed. "I'm not going to lie, that feels absolutely amazing."

"It's probably going to feel even more amazing in just a moment," Zelos grinned, resuming his scrubbing at the base of Lloyd's back.

As he continued on with scrubbing at Lloyd's back, Zelos noticed a few bubbles were starting to trail down past the base of Lloyd's back and down past the round little butt right below the sponge that was in his hand. A sly smirk went unnoticed right across Zelos's face as he watched the bubbles and then decided he would follow after them. And as expected, there was a very sudden gasp as Lloyd whirled around, a glare and a blush both on his face at once. Zelos just shrugged and smiled right back at him.

"I was just finishing up the rest of your backside," Zelos said as he smiled. "I do believe that perfect butt of yours is included, unless you actually want me to clean the front of you off, which I definitely don't mind doing."

"Zelos," Lloyd frowned.

"Whaaat? You know I'd let you do it for me anytime," Zelos winked. "So if you want to…"

Red eyebrows, both playfully and suggestively, wagged at the brunet, and in response, Lloyd just shook his head back and forth, rolled his eyes, and took the loofah away from Zelos to put some more body wash on it. Not wanting for his boyfriend to change his mind on whatever it was that he was going to do, Zelos patiently waited. When Lloyd turned to face him, the redhead grinned wildly and waited for Lloyd to start scrubbing at his chest. When Lloyd motioned for Zelos to turn around though, a small pout formed on the redhead's lips, but he followed Lloyd's command regardless. He figured someday Lloyd would be comfortable enough to want to touch any part of him when they showered together in the future.

"By the way, hun," Zelos smirked, enjoying the feeling of Lloyd scrubbing his back for him. "That's one sexy little birthmark you've got."

"Shut up Zelos, or you're doing this yourself," Lloyd said threateningly as he tugged at a piece of Zelos's hair.

"Fine, fine, continue."

Suddenly, a thought raced through Zelos's mind, setting off a little panic mode once the thought had brought itself up. Lloyd was about halfway down Zelos's back when the redhead whirled around to ask Lloyd what it was that was bothering him.

"Hey, Lloyd, I was wondering—"

"Ze-Zelos! Turn back around!" Lloyd stammered, covering his face with the sponge. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! I got it in my eyes!"

"Sorry, hold on, let me get a washcloth!" Zelos said, reaching over to a small cabinet in the shower. He quickly opened it and grabbed a small, green washcloth and handed it over to Lloyd. "Here, here, I'm sorry about that babe!"

Lloyd immediately handed the loofah over to Zelos and made a blind grab at the washcloth, took it from Zelos and put it over his eyes to try and wipe the bubbles out of them. As Zelos waited for Lloyd to finish up, he decided he would scrub down the rest of his body so they could finish their shower up on time without much more issue. Occasionally, Zelos would look back at Lloyd to see how he was doing, but every time he did, he saw the boy was still rubbing away at his eyes. A sharp pang of guilt swept over the redhead, so he quickly finished washing off and walked over to Lloyd, placing a hand on the boy's head.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I got the soap out a while ago. I was just covering my eyes to give you some privacy," Lloyd said, still holding the cloth over his face.

Zelos frowned. "And here I thought you were never going to be able to see again." The redhead grabbed the loofah and pushed it to Lloyd's chest. "You gunna finish cleaning yourself off, or am I going to have to do it for you? Like I said before, I really have no issue at all—" The loofah was immediately snatched out of Zelos's hand. "Oh, hunny, I'm hurt."

The word "hunny" made Lloyd frown, but he turned away from Zelos to continue scrubbing himself down, turning his head to make sure that Zelos wasn't peeking. Every time he turned to see what Zelos was doing, he was greeted with a friendly smile and a tilt of the head. Lloyd couldn't help but to smile just a little bit when he was given such a gentle smile.

"So, uh," Lloyd started up as he finished with the loofah and stepped into the running water, "what was it that you needed to ask me before I got that soap in my eyes?"

"Huh? Oh, er, I was wondering, you are seventeen right?" Zelos asked.

"Yeah, I'm eighteen in a month though. Why do you want to know?"

"Well, uh, I don't know. I was just wondering is all," Zelos replied, carefully watching Lloyd wash himself off.

"_Well, I suppose I could hold back on doing too much until then. I mean, there's the whole age of consent thing, but judging by how everyone is saying that Kratos is going to flip a bitch on me if I do anything, I probably should wait,_" Zelos mentally sighed. "_I certainly don't want him doing anything too serious like making sure he never sees me again… or at least until he's of age._"

"I'm done," Lloyd said, nudging at Zelos to get out of the shower. "Hand me a towel… I'll turn off the water when you're out."

"Awwww, okay, if you say so," Zelos sighed, quickly exiting the shower and waiting for Lloyd to turn the water off. "Don't be too long. We don't want the food Sebastian worked so hard on to get cold." Once the water was off, Zelos quickly tossed over a towel and put his own around his waist and one around his head to hold his hair up. "I'm going to go put something on, so you can get ready in here. I'll put some clothes for you outside the door, so you just have to grab them when you're ready."

"Okay, thanks," Lloyd said from inside the shower.

"Hey, Bud?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever think about giving me a nickname?"

"Wh-what? Uh, do you have one in mind?" Lloyd asked, drying himself off as he spoke.

"How about Sexy? Or Hot Stuff? Or Handsome Stud? Oh, oh, what about—"

"Seriously Zelos," Lloyd frowned.

"I am serious, Bud. Hm, now that I think about it, I should think of something sexier for you as a nickname."

"But I like 'Bud'… Pleas don't give me a weird—"

"What about—"

"No."

"Oh, come on, you haven't even—"

"No, Zelos. Please let me get ready before my hair dries weird."

"Fine. But this conversation isn't over yet, not by a long shot my cute little cuddle bunny," Zelos snickered.

"Get. Out."

"Getting out," Zelos smirked, walking out of the bathroom and closing the door behind him. "Okay, time to get dressed. I wonder if Lloyd will like to wear this…"

-In the car-

"No, I don't want to wear it!" Lloyd whined, pushing the object in Zelos's hand that he had been trying to hand over to the brunet since they'd gotten into the car. "I don't want anyone looking at me weird."

"Aw, Bud, you know if I catch anyone looking at you funny that I'll beat some sense into them. It'll make you look super sexy… Not that you aren't sexy already," Zelos smiled, trying to reach over to Lloyd again. "Come on babe, I want everyone to know that you're mine, pretty please?"

"But there's a lock and key! If you forget to take it off before I have to go home and my dad or Yuan find it on me, you could get in big trouble or my dad might—"

"I know, I know… Well, what if I don't put the lock on it? I could just replace it with a little bell or something?" Zelos said.

"I'm not wearing a collar to school," Lloyd said, trying to add an air of finality to the conversation. "Maybe on a date or something, but not to school."

"Oh, is that a promise?" Zelos grinned, wagging his eyebrows at Lloyd. His smile widened when Lloyd's cheeks flushed and a small little grin slid onto Lloyd's face. "Okay, fine, I'll wait til then. Come here, babe." Zelos reached his hand over behind Lloyd's neck to pull the brunet in closer to him and plant a kiss on his cheek. "Would it be okay if I set up a date night for us?"

Lloyd nodded shyly and made a grab at the black leather collar, but Zelos had caught on to the action before it was completed. The redhead simply pulled the hand that had the collar in it away to the other side of the car to keep it away from Lloyd. For a few moments, Lloyd tried his very best to get the item away from Zelos to get a better look at it, but seeing as that Zelos's arm span was a few inches longer than Lloyd's the struggle was to no avail. Not too long after he'd attempted to get the collar, he gave up, throwing himself over Zelos's lap. This resulted in a quiet laugh from the redhead.

"I could've sworn that you didn't want to wear it to school," Zelos chuckled, patting Lloyd on the head. "Now if you've changed your mind, all you have to do is say so and I'll be more than willing to put it on for you to see how it looks and show you off to everyone else."

"No, I just wanted to see how it looked in my hands. I'm not sure if it would look all that great around my neck to be totally honest," Lloyd sighed, making pathetic attempts to grab the collar by lazily flicking his wrist at it.

"Well, there is only one way to find out you know," Zelos grinned, mockingly swinging the collar back and forth between his fingertips. "You could always try it on before we get to school and then I'll take it off for you before we get out of the car."

"You promise that you'll take it off?" Lloyd asked, glancing up at Zelos from his lap.

"I swear, Bud. Oh, I've wanted to see how it looks on you since I've found it! Turn around, turn around! Let's get this pretty little toy around that lovely neck of yours!" Zelos said, smiling much too widely for Lloyd's comfort. "Hurry up! We only have like a minute to see it on you!"

A sigh escaped Lloyd's lips as he pushed himself up from Zelos's lap and turned to his right side and glance out the window. He could feel his boyfriend sliding the small item around his neck and he heard a small click in the back. He then felt Zelos nudging at his shoulder to motion him to turn around so Zelos could take a look at the collar. The redhead tilted his head at a few different angles to see if he liked how the object looked on Lloyd. No more than a few seconds later, Zelos found himself biting at his lower lip.

"So?" Lloyd spoke up, wanting to hear Zelos's opinion.

"You look so… sexy," Zelos grinned, flicking his finger at the small bell that hung in the front. "I should get you a leash, some cat ears and a matching tail!"

"…Really? I didn't think that you were into that kind of stuff. Now, get this thing off of me. We're pulling into the parking lot. I don't want anyone else to see this on me," Lloyd said, poking at Zelos's chest with a sense of urgency.

"Mkay, hold on a second. Let me get the key," Zelos sighed, reaching into his pocket to try and find it. "Not in that one…" Zelos reached over to the other pocket and when he found nothing in that but lint, he turned to Lloyd and gave him a rather nervous smile and immediately went to search his back and jacket pockets. "Must be in my backpack."

"…It had better be…," Lloyd frowned, throwing a disapproving glare over towards Zelos.

Sebastian had parked the car out of the way of other vehicles that were trying to drop off their own kids while Zelos fumbled around desperately in his bag. The longer it took for Zelos to dig through his belongings, the angrier the look on Lloyd's face seemed to get. After about five minutes had passed, Zelos had pulled away from his bag without a key in hand and Lloyd's expression turned into one of utter disdain. All Zelos could do was smile timidly and shrug his shoulder with empty hands.

"I, uh… I must've left it in my closet?" Zelos said, trying to lean over and give Lloyd a hug.

"Zelos…," Lloyd snarled, snagging the long pink scarf Zelos had been wearing around his neck. "If Yuan doesn't get to you first, I'm going to kill you."

"Buuud," Zelos whined, still trying to hug the other boy.

"No! You should've made sure you had the key with you before you put this thing on me!"

"Sebastian, help?"

"I'm afraid Sir Bud is right. You are the one at fault here, sir," Sebastian said from the front of the car as Lloyd shoved Zelos away from him by pushing his forehead to the other side of the car. "If you would like, Sir Bud, I can drive back home and search for the key for you to get that collar off. I could also get the office to call you down so you can find a way to take care of that more privately before you get back to class."

"That would be amazing, Sebastian. I'm pretty sure the dress code for where I work doesn't allow for this sort of thing, you know?" Lloyd said.

"You work?" Zelos asked, trying to get into the more friendly part of the conversation.

"Do you have a cellphone, Sebastian?" Lloyd asked, completely disregarding Zelos's question.

"I do not," Sebastian replied, shaking his head. "May I ask why you want to know?"

"Oh, it's nothing, never mind. Just tell the front desk lady to call me to come and pick it up. Say it's a house key or something like that in case they ask what it's for," Lloyd said. He noticed Zelos trying to get his attention with another attempt at a hug, so he tossed the redhead a dirty glare, resulting in Zelos slinking back to the back of the car with a small pout on his face. "Well, anyways, I'll just wear this scarf for the time being, even if it's pink."

"Pink is a cool colo—"

"Thanks for driving us to school Sebastian. I'll see you later," Lloyd said, quickly leaving Zelos behind and getting out of the car after he'd made sure to securely hide the collar around his neck.

Zelos sighed and gathered up all the stuff he'd flung out of his backpack to put it back where it belonged. He saw Sebastian glancing back at him from the rearview mirror and managed to see a small smirk under that thick white mustache.

"What's got you all giddy?" Zelos frowned, sulking a bit as he watched Lloyd run off towards Sheena without waiting for him.

"You are well aware that you've got some serious apologies you'll be needing to put together, aren't you sir?" Sebastian smiled.

"Yeah. I've found I've had to do that a lot with him already," Zelos sighed.

"As long as you're willing to, I'm sure everything will end up just fine."

"Yeah," Zelos sighed, watching Lloyd from the car. The brunet had turned to check and see if Zelos had followed him yet, and when their eyes met, a faint red appeared on the boy's cheeks and he stubbornly turned away to talk with Sheena. Zelos chuckled a bit and threw his bag over his shoulder. "Well, I'll see ya after school, Sebastian. Try not to party too hard while I'm gone."

"I'll be sure to invite everyone I can," the butler smiled. "Have a good day sir." Zelos then got out of the car as quickly as he could, and Sebastian watched as he ran over to Lloyd and tackled him into a hug. The boy may have been as red as a beet, but that didn't stop him from punching Zelos in the arm as hard as he could. "Well, I'd best get back home and start looking for that key, otherwise Dolly is going to have quite the dilemma tonight."

-At Lloyd's house-

Kratos had been helping Yuan up the stairs for the past hour and a half, after he had insisted on using the house phone to call and check up on Lloyd for whatever reason the auburn haired man didn't care about. Of course, the walk down the stairs had been almost as bad and nearly ended up with Yuan falling halfway down them, but it had gone much faster going down than it was as they trekked back up. Kratos had made sure to be more careful with Yuan that time, seeing as that the medication he'd been given before he'd left the hospital that morning hadn't worn off yet.

Yuan was, for a lack of better words, very uncoordinated and had issues just sitting up for more than a minute. So, every few stairs, Yuan insisted that he needed to lay down on the stair they were on for a good ten minutes. After he had his rest on the stair, it would take another five minutes for him to get to a good standing position and continue up three or four more stairs and then insist on laying down again. Kratos swore at himself for not being strong enough to carry Yuan up the stairs on his own as well as not installing some sort of elevator.

"Come on, Yuan… almost there," Kratos said, nudging the man up a minute early from his rest. "Once we get up there, we've got a straight shot to the bedroom so you can rest in a more comfortable spot."

"Does that mean you'll be with me?" Yuan asked, clinging to Kratos as he let the man help him up. "Because I can't think of a place without your presence being any more comfortable than these stupid stairs."

Kratos felt his heart flutter a bit before he answered.

"If you want me to move my laptop upstairs, I can. I can't lie down in that bed though. If I do, I'm probably going to pass out, and I've got to stay up and see if I can get some sort of job so I can at least pay the bills this month without you paying more than half of them," Kratos said, successfully getting Yuan up and over two stairs as he spoke.

"I'll take it. I'd rather have you nearby than downstairs all by yourself," Yuan said.

"One more stair… and look at that! All the way up. Not too bad. And until you are completely recovered from whatever drugs they gave you, you are not getting out of that bed unless you need to go to the bathroom, and I really hope you can hold it in until then," Kratos said, gently guiding Yuan back to the guest room as quickly as he could. As Kratos opened the door to the room, Yuan decided he would lay down in the doorway. "Yuan, get up. We are ALMOST there!"

But Yuan ignored him and curled up into the fetal position and mumbled something about going to sleep, making Kratos sigh in defeat as he walked away to retrieve his laptop from down stairs. As he walked downstairs, a few thoughts ran through his mind. He'd been wondering about the man that had walked into Yuan's hospital room since they'd gotten home and had been meaning to ask Yuan about him, but when they were driving home, the blunet had tried to roll down the window and throw his entire body out with his seatbelt still on saying he needed to see if his manager needed something. After spending a troublesome amount of time getting Yuan back into the car and making sure to lock the windows, Kratos decided it'd be best to wait to bring something up about Cayn until Yuan was completely recovered.

The auburn haired man sighed, gathering his laptop, the charger and sword to bring up the stairs. He struggled for a moment, trying to figure out a way to safely sheath his sword while he had his laptop in his hands, but when that didn't work, he placed everything down on the couch, sheathed his sword on his belt, then picked up his laptop and charger, dramatically kicking a pillow that was on the ground because he didn't pick up everything properly the first time.

Suddenly, there was a cry from upstairs, making Kratos set his laptop down and dash up the stairs to see what was wrong. Once he got upstairs, his sword drawn and at the ready for any opponents that may have posed a threat, he found that Yuan was rolling around on the floor, and the yelling was probably a result from him rolling onto his chest.

"Yuan, what in the Goddess's good name are you doing?" Kratos sighed, sheathing his sword and rubbing at his forehead.

"Where'd you goooo? I was lonely," Yuan whined. "My chest hurts really bad too. Can you help me onto the bed? I wanna snuggle with a pillow until you're done."

"I thought you were going to sleep on the floor," Kratos said, kneeling down to pick Yuan up. The blunet wasn't of much help, seeing as that he would drag his feet around instead of picking them up like he was supposed to.

"I don't remember saying I was going to do that," Yuan mumbled, sliding his feet across the floor and putting nearly all his body weight onto Kratos. "I remember talking to that butler guy—"

"Sebastian."

"Yeah, him. I remember talking to him, getting about halfway up the stairs… and that's about it. I don't remember laying down in the middle of the doorway…," Yuan said as Kratos gently laid him down on the bed. He sat up for about ten seconds and then fell over on top of a few of the pillows that were at the top of the bd. "M'hungry.'

"Er, do you want some cereal or something? I can put that together without screwing it up too badly," Kratos said, propping Yuan's head up on one of the pillows.

"That sounds good. Do you have something with chocolate?" Yuan asked.

"You should know better than anyone that I do, with Lloyd being a total chocolate addict and all," Kratos smiled. "Then again, you don't remember much of the car ride home, so I guess I'll let that slide. I'll be right back up with your food. Try not to pass out before I get back up here, okay?"

All Yuan did was nod and grunt, clinging as tightly as he could to one of the nearby pillows on his bed. Kratos then left the room and went back downstairs, glancing over at his laptop and sighing. He figured he could come back down and grab it after he was done feeding Yuan, if he wasn't able to feed himself that was, which Kratos didn't doubt.

Just as he was about to enter the kitchen, a small knock came from the front door, startling the man just a moment. Kratos regained his composure and briskly crossed from the kitchen through the living room and up to the front door to peek through the peephole to see who it was at the door. At first, he had expected to see a mop of blond hair, and if he had, he was prepared to walk away and ignore any further knocking for the duration of the day. However, when he saw the unmistakable black and silver, Kratos paused and pondered whether or not he should answer the door. He trusted Yuan to talk about the relationship he'd shared with the man waiting patiently outside once he was well enough to speak of it, but a strange impulse made him open the door just enough to peek outside and let Cayn know he'd been heard.

"Hi. I didn't expect you to drop by… or even really know where I lived," Kratos said rather awkwardly.

"Oh, did I come at a bad time?" the man asked, looking down at Kratos from outside.

"Ah, uh, not really, I guess. I wasn't really expecting you to drop by though. Uhm, if you're here to see Yuan, I'm afraid he's a little dazed from all the pain medication the doctor's gave him," Kratos said, glancing over to see if the chain was still on the door. He looked back over to Cayn when he noticed it was, feeling a little safer about the current confrontation. "I'm sure once he's better you can call him and let him know you want to see him."

"Actually, I've dropped by to see you," Cayn said through a simple smile. "But I can come back at another time, perhaps when Yuan's off at work. I'm sure for the time being, he's none too keen on seeing me, granted it has been a while since we last spoke."

Auburn colored eyes blinked, confused as to why Cayn, this complete stranger, wanted to see him. He awkwardly scratched at the back of his neck as he tried to find some sort of ulterior motive written somewhere on the other man's face, but he couldn't find any. He then glanced as quickly as he could past Cayn to see if he could spot an unfamiliar car with someone else in it. There was a car he'd never seen before parked in front of his house, but from what he could tell, there was no one else inside.

"Well, I, uh, I'm a little shocked you'd want to see me of all people to be honest," Kratos spoke up.

"Oh, believe me, I've been looking forward to it for a while," Cayn replied. "You don't have to hide behind your door from me. I'm not going to do anything. Oh, and by the way, if you need some help getting that nasty graffiti off your door, I'm more than willing to help."

"Uhm, thanks, I'll find some time to get it covered up. Anyways, if you want to give me your number, I can shoot you a text when Yuan's at work if you want," Kratos said quietly, in case Yuan had somehow managed to make it quietly down or near the stairs and was listening in on the conversation. "I don't have any paper on me—"

"That's all right. You can just give me your number and I'll save it in my phone and then text you to let you know it's me," Cayn smiled, pulling out a fairly simple looking phone.

"Oh, well then," Kratos said, making a hollow sounding laugh, "I guess you're just prepared for everything, aren't you."

"I'm not going to lie, I do try to be," Cayn grinned.

Kratos then repeated his number after Cayn said he had gotten everything set up to add the new contact. After Cayn had put all the information needed down, he looked back to Kratos with grin.

"Like I said at the hospital, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Yuan had told me so much about you that I've just been dying to actually meet you face to face," Cayn said. "Do tell him I hope he gets well enough to work soon. I certainly do hope to be able to sit down and get to know you soon. Maybe over a cup of coffee or something of the like?"

"Yes, I… look forward to it Cayn. I've got to get back to taking care of Yuan though, so have a good day," Kratos said in a hushed tone.

"Do take care, Kratos," Cayn smiled, waving as he turned to walk towards his car.

As Kratos closed the door, he turned to look upstairs to see if Yuan had come over to see who was at the door. When his paranoia was answered with loud snoring from the guest room, Kratos sighed and locked the door. For a moment, he sat against the door, wondering what had just happened. A man he had never heard of before until yesterday, wanted to get to know him over a cup of coffee. Kratos had his doubts about him, especially since Yuan had acted extremely out of character when he'd just seen the man, yet something poked at his curiosity. He had no idea who Cayn was, but it seemed Cayn knew more about him than first thought.

Kratos shook his head to distract himself from his thoughts. Cayn wasn't important now. Taking care of Yuan was. However, the snoring was definitely a sign that the previously desired cereal was a lost cause. So instead of making a bowl like he had intended to do when he first walked down the stairs, he grabbed his laptop and its charger and went back upstairs.

All of the sudden, Kratos felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket, so he rushed to the top of the stairs to set his laptop down and see who it was that was trying to contact him. He scanned over the text that read 'It's Cayn. Text me back so I know you got this' and glanced down the hallway. Yuan's snoring was still very audible, so he slid his phone open to respond to the message.

-You got the right number-

Kratos clicked the send button, slid his phone shut, and then put his phone back in his pocket and went to go pick his laptop back up to continue on to the room. Yuan had managed to completely sprawl himself out onto the entire bed with his mouth hanging slightly open as he drooled some on to one of the pillows. A small smile found its way to Kratos's face as he set his laptop down on a desk to walk over and brush the blue hair out of the other's face. He then knelt down and placed a tender kiss on Yuan's forehead. A small sigh was heard as an involuntary smile curled up onto Yuan's lips.

"_I suppose we can wait a few more days to talk about his relationship or whatever it is he shared with Cayn,_" Kratos thought as he walked back over to sit down at the desk he'd placed his laptop on. "_Poor guy needs a good few days to rest anyways. Time to see if there's anything I can do for some extra cash._" As Kratos pulled up his email account, he sighed when all he saw were offers from Mithos. "_Well, things are certainly going to be rough if I don't take anymore jobs from him… But jeez, it's going to be fucking awkward when I have to turn in my paperwork._"

Vibrations were felt once more, resulting in Kratos abandoning the thought to look at the text he'd just received, without looking at who'd sent it to him. The text struck him as odd at first, seeing as that it had asked him if it would be all right to go out for lunch and possibly a movie, but when he compared the number to the last text he'd gotten, he put two and two together.

"_Ah… I need to save him into my phone._" Kratos looked over to Yuan for a moment. "_But probably as someone Yuan won't recognize… just in case if Cayn decides to call and Yuan sees who it is._"

-Lunch sounds good. I may not have time for the movie though-

"_Well, if this isn't weird, I don't know what is,_" Kratos mentally sighed, turning his phone to silent. "_But maybe this whole thing will make talking about Cayn easier for Yuan. I'll just let him know that he wants to meet up with me for lunch sometime._"

Kratos noticed another message pop up on his phone and was quick to see what it said.

/That's fine then. Just let me know when you're by yourself so I can come pick you up. It would be best to keep this between us by the way/

"_Well, that idea is ruined,_" Kratos thought, sighing. "_Maybe I shouldn't do this. I don't want to ruin anything between me and Yuan because of some stupid secret…_" He looked back over to the blunet. "_I'll… I don't know._"

"Kraatos," Yuan mumbled. Kratos's eyes snapped into focus and noticed Yuan was reaching his hand towards him. "C'mere… please?"

Obediently, Kratos got up from his chair, leaving his phone behind on the desk and walked over to kneel by the bedside. Then, once Kratos was in reach, Yuan grabbed him in a hug and pulled him over onto the bed, crushing their lips together in a sudden kiss. Kratos didn't have much time to react before Yuan passed out again, holding him close enough that their lips were still touching, even though the kiss was already done.

"…Yu-Yuan?" Kratos stammered, wondering what the hell had just happened. All he got as a response was a muffled groan. Yuan then loosened his grip on Kratos and rolled over, clutching to a pillow instead. "Well, at least when these drugs wear off, you won't be stupid enough to do that again. You're going to be in so much pain when that medicine runs its course…"

A small ringing noise suddenly came from Kratos's laptop, making the man sit up to see what it was. It was a glorious little noise, Kratos came to realize, that was notifying him that he had a new email for a job, so he bounced out of the bed, careful to not disturb Yuan too much, and run over to sit in his chair to see the job description.

"Oh? How interesting. I haven't gotten a job from him in a long time," Kratos spoke to himself, reading over the message a few times. "Well, I suppose this will give me a better chance to get to know Zelos as he is now." Kratos glanced back at Yuan, who was snuggling his face into a pillow. He smiled then turned back to look at the message. "I'll just have to let Sebastian know that I can't be over right away. It must be important though if he's offering 10,000 dollars upon arrival and then 10,000 upon completion. He's usually pretty specific about this kind of stuff, especially with this much money involved… Oh well, I guess I'll find out when Lloyd is off to work tonight. Yuan should be able to handle himself by then… I hope."

**Oh no… Lloyd's about to be in some deep doo-doo… If you guys catch my drift that is. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. If you haven't guessed already, the next one is going to be interesting to say the least. I PROMISE I'LL HAVE IT POSTED IN LESS THAN A MONTH THIS TIME DX :B Time to go wake someone up. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU ALL NEXT TIME~**

**Review pweez :'D I have cookies and cake for those that do~**


	15. Chapter quince

Chapter 15  
The New Job

Author :: banANNU

Rated :: M

**Review responses to my wonderful reviewers~ ::**

**ZaphiraX ::  
**ARGH, I'm so sorry I didn't post this sooner DX Work has kept me super busy that I just haven't had the time to properly type anything up. Q . Q I really hope the curiosity didn't kill you. You need to still be alive please? D: And don't worry too much. ):D I have plenty planned for the future of this fiction… it would be a shame if Kratos found certain things out too soon, wouldn't it? *evil laughter* Mithos has it coming by the way… so patience young grasshopper. Patience. Now enjoy the chapter you've been waiting for.

**DennyTribal ::  
**D: I hope reading this didn't put too much stress on you being sick. Q . Q I'd feel so terrible if it did… and I certainly hope that by now you're better (which according to DA you are, so you better not have gotten sick again or I'll have to fly over there and give you some medicine and then read the chapter to you while you're in bed getting rest) because I've given you lots of time to recover! *gives some more cake* :D Sorry for the wait by the way. I'd been planning on posting this WAY sooner, but I've been so busy that I could only type a little bit every so often… SO I HOPE THIS WAS WORTH THE WAIT! If not I shall apologize to the world for my inability to write properly.  
(_ _ ;;;) I'm not going to lie, I had too much fun doping Yuan up on the drugs. xD Poor Kratos just didn't know what to do. also may have a thing with boys with collars on… but don't tell anyone. *gives a piece of candy for patiently waiting for the chapter*

**Mizu Hoseki ::  
***giggles* ah, poor Lloyd. He goes through too much… I don't think he'll be very sane by the time this story is done. XD and don't be too hard on Kratos. He's just curious… like half the people reading this story :D And I won't ruin that for you quite yet. I'll just leave you to your guessing. *evil laughter* xDDD I don't think Lloyd had too much of an option for that scarf. It was either that or holding his hands around his neck for the whole day… which might've looked a little concerning. *whistles innocently* They might~ but not too soon~ I've got too much planned to let them find out within the next few chapters ):D *give some more cookies and a giant bag of candy left over from Christmas* Sorry I didn't post this sooner D: As I've said I've been super busy DX I'll try and post sooner than just once every few months. Q . Q

**Marina Ka-Fai ::  
**XD I know, but he's just so adorable~ I couldn't really help it :'D

**Aoka-Chan ::  
**As long as it's not the best :'''D I've read some really good Zelloyd stories that I think are WAY better than mine… they just haven't finished them yet TT^TT Sorry I didn't update sooner Dx

**Apologue ::  
***flails around happily* Oh my goodness D': I'm so happy that it's good enough for you to read! I'll do my best to not disappoint you with the upcoming chapters Dx

**Yua-chan ::  
**I'm SO happy you like it! :DDD It always makes writing each and every chapter worth it when I see reviews like yours~ And don't worry about any spelling or grammar errors, hun. :3 I'm not particularly picky about that ^^ Especially when it comes to my readers. I really hope you liked the tenth chapter. DX Sorry that the link didn't work for you. I'll be sure to just email you any chapters I post on that site in the future to make things a little easier for you. :D

**Disclaimer ::  
**OH MY GOSH I'M SO SORRY DX I really am. Q . Q I don't want to make any of you wait that long again. I had planned on posting this SOOOO much earlier than I did… D': I've just been so flippin busy, so I'm also sorry if this chapter seems a little rushed. Q A Q I've already written out what exactly I'm putting in the next chapter… so it'll be a little more juicy in terms of funny-ness and information to sate some of your curiousity… I just wanted to get a little bit of things out of the way… So, since I've already delayed your new chapter for you to read, I'm rushing through this as well.  
I don't own any of the characters *sad face*, I don't own ToS, I don't make any money by making this fic. TT^TT Forgive me if this isn't that great. *flails around*

Enjoy  
Chapter 15

**COMPLICATIONS**

"What do you mean he can't find it?" Lloyd growled, glaring directly into Zelos's eyes.

"Oooohhhh, hasn't even been a week and you're already pissing him off," Sheena giggled, biting into a sandwich she'd packed for herself. "You really need to work on how you handle your relationships. He's not just some pretty little stick with boobs and legs.

"I know, I know," Zelos sighed, shaking his head back and forth. He'd just received a phone call from Sebastian letting him know that he couldn't find the key. "Why don't you just call into work and come over to my house today and we can look for it together."

"I've already called in quite a bit lately. I'm sure if I miss much more, I'm gunna get fired," Lloyd said, grabbing his fork and, as dramatically as he could, took a forkful of rice and swallowed it. "It pays really well and I'm not willing to give it up any time soon."

"Speaking of, where DO you work?" Zelos asked.

"That's not important," Lloyd frowned, brushing the question off as easily as he'd done earlier that morning. "The point is, I don't want to lose my job."

"You could always come work for me," Zelos suggested. "I'm sure I'd be a better than any manager that you could ever work for."

"What about Dolly?" Sheena spoke up, not liking where the conversation was going.

"Oh, are you guys not talking to each other anymore?" Zelos asked Lloyd. "I could shorten up her schedule some so you can have some time to work for me. Whatever they're paying you at this job of yours, I can pay you three times as much. I'm sure Dolly or Sheena have told you about how much they made. In fact, I can pay you twice as much as—"

"That's quite enough Zelos," Sheena said quickly, shoving her hands into Zelos's face to keep him from saying anything else. "I'm pretty sure Lloyd can't fill in as a maid, since that's the position you're hiring for, and you only need one butler. Plus, Lloyd hasn't been at his job that long, and we've got a bet going that he needs to fulfill, otherwise I get all of the money that he's made."

Zelos shook his head at the girl's words, not liking what she'd said. "Well that doesn't seem right," the redhead said back at Sheena. Lloyd just continued to eat his food, thinking it would be best to ignore the bickering that was going on around him. "That's his hard earned money, and you should let him keep it, regardless of some silly agreement."

"You weren't there when we made the deal, so you can't have any part of it," Sheena growled, pointing her finger as close as she could at Zelos's face. "It's his own fault anyway. He didn't have to be greedy and agree to it."

"Well fine then, he should just quit and I'll pay you whatever money he owes you. He'd be happier working for me than some wrinkly old man anway!"

Instead of responding with more shouting, she just started giggling to herself and then resumed with eating her nearly forgotten lunch. The laughing had Zelos at a loss for words, so he looked over to Lloyd for some sort of answer, but Lloyd had entirely missed out on what had happened, so he just shrugged at his boyfriend lazily and continued eating his rice as he had been.

Zelos took advantage of the silence that had loomed over the three friends to think of a way to get Lloyd to work for him. He bit into his sandwich as he thought, occasionally glancing over at the brunet, who was still consuming his meal with as much emotion as he could. A small smirk made its way to Zelos's lips every time he'd catch a glance of his adorable boyfriend. It wasn't too long before Zelos finally thought of something.

"Why don't I just fire Dolly then? She apparently hasn't shown up for work for the past few days. I mean, she's barely been working with me for two weeks—"

"No, Zelos. She's had reasons every time that she hasn't shown up. You can't just fire her because she hasn't shown up for work. There was a whole week that I didn't even call in to let you know that I wasn't going to be in," Sheena said. "If she starts to do what I did, then maybe you can think about it. But honestly, you've never actually fired anyone before, even if they haven't shown up for weeks."

"I know, but—"

"The answer is no, Zelos. Lloyd will continue to work at his job, and you're not going to fire Dolly, okay?" Sheena said, scowling as she spoke. "Now eat your damn food already. I'm sure Sebastian made it to be eaten. So anyways, Lloyd?" The brunet turned his head up from eating his lunch to see what it was Sheena wanted. "What exactly didn't Sebastian find?"

"Nothing," Lloyd lied, quickly turning back to his food. He noticed from the corned of his eye that Zelos had grinned and he shot a glare over towards the redhead. "You had better find that tonight, otherwise I'll tell Dolly to look around for anything she finds and to drop them off for me to pick up, regardless of whether or not they'll work."

"But I thought you guys weren't talking to each other," Zelos said.

"W-we aren't really. But this is an emergen- Sheena! Let go of my scarf!" Lloyd shouted at the girl when she'd made a grab for the pink fabric hanging from his neck. "Sheena! Seriously, stop it! Let go!"

"You never wear scarves. What in the world are you hiding under there? Oh my Goddess, it's not a hickey is it?! Ooooh, Zelos, I swear, if that's what he's hiding...," Sheena trailed off, getting more fierce with her tugging to get the scarf off.

After a few more tugs, Sheena successfully pulled enough of the scarf off to see the top of the collar and hear a little bit of a jingle noise. She instantly released her hold on the cloth as her eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth to cover up a somewhat wicked smile. An agitated sigh escaped Lloyd's lips as he hit his head down on the table top. Unsure on how exactly to react, Zelos just grinned as he admired the blush on his boyfriend's face that was working its way up to his ears.

"Why in the world are you wearing a cat collar?" Sheena snickered. Very suddenly, she gasped and snapped her head over to look at Zelos. "You lost the key didn't you?!"

"I didn't lose it," Zelos said quickly to defend himself. Lloyd angrily glanced up at the redhead. "I just put it down somewhere and temporarily forgot where that somewhere is."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, you've got to dine that key! Are you sure Sebastian couldn't find it? Did you give him an idea of where it could be?" Sheena asked.

"Why in the world are you so worried?" Zelos asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, well, uh, I'm sure Kratos wouldn't be too terribly happy if he found a collar like THAT on his son."

"It won't be as bad since he's hooked up with Yuan recently," Zelos grinned, looking at Lloyd. "Right?"

"…He's… Lloyd, what? You're dad… you're dad is…"

"It won't change anything Zelos," Lloyd sighed, nodding his head at Sheena as he spoke to answer her unfinished question. "He's always been that way. If he doesn't like the idea of something, he gets to be really stubborn and mean. And we've found that when it comes to something that involves me, that stubbornness increases ten fold. Trust me Zelos, if he found out the collar was your fault and that we were going out, seeing each other would be very difficult."

"Well, if Sebastian can't find it before I get home, I'll be sure to ask Dolly to help me look around for it. And if we do find it tonight, I'll send it home with her to give to Sheena and she can drive over and give it to you. Of course, if we find it, I could always drive over to you myself if you'd like Lloyd," Zelos offered, reaching over and brushing some of Lloyd's hair out of his eyes to uncover a small pout. "I promise, we'll find it tonight, no matter what."

The pout Lloyd was wearing faltered for just a moment, revealing a small smile, but as soon as Lloyd realized what it was he was doing, he glared, stuck his tongue out at the redhead and put his head back down on the table so Zelos couldn't see his face. Zelos disregarded the childish gesture and simply smiled, a picture of his adorable brunet's smile still in his head. He placed his hand back onto Lloyd's head, brushing his fingers into his brown hair, enjoying the soft feel under his finger tips.

"I'm angry at you Zelos," Lloyd grumbled, his voice muffled since he refused to pick his head up off the table.

"I know, I know. I promise I'll fix it though," Zelos grinned. He then noticed Sheena glaring over at him, practically stabbing daggers directly into him, catching Zelos off guard. But as soon as he'd seen the hateful expression, it had disappeared and she had whirled around to continue eating her food. "You doing okay Sheena?"

"Hm? Yeah, I'm just eating food," she replied as if nothing had happened.

Maybe it was a trick of the light, but the look he'd just seen had Zelos a tad bit worried about what was going on. He was going to ask about the dirty look, but decided against it as to not worry Lloyd too much. The boy was already angry as it was. He didn't need to worry about one of his best friends apparently hating his boyfriend for some unexplained reason.

"_It'd be best to talk to her about it when Lloyd's not around,_" Zelos thought to himself, getting back to his own food. That was when Zelos felt his phone vibrate in his pocket a few times, alerting him that he was getting a phone call. He pulled it out, saw it was Sebastian and answered it immediately. "_I wonder if he found it._"

"Hey Sebastian, you find that key?" Zelos asked. Lloyd perked up at the mentioning of Sebastian's name.

"I'm sorry sir, I'm afraid I have not. I'm actually calling to talk to you about the missing money situation that you'd gone to your father about yesterday," Sebastian replied.

"Oh, that crap. Well, did the greedy bastard come out and admit to it?" Zelos growled.

"No sir. I just wanted to call you to let you know Lloyd's father is going to be guarding the house for a few days until everything's settled. You might want to let Lloyd know that he's going to be over tonight and tomorrow. I know that he's going to be at work, but I'm positive that he'll want to know what's going on," Sebastian said. Zelos's eyes glanced over at Lloyd, seeing the boy had lost interest in the conversation when the news about the key was no longer being talked about.

"By the way, Sebastian?" Zelos asked, returning his attention back to his phone.

"Yes sir?"

"Where DOES Lloyd work?" Zelos questioned quietly, making sure Lloyd hadn't heard him.

"Ah, well, I'm afraid he hasn't really gone into great detail about it," Sebastian answered. "I'm sorry sir."

"Damn. Oh well, it's fine. I'm sure I'll get it out of him one of these days," Zelos mumbled. "So is that all you needed to tell me?"

"Yes sir."

"Alrighty then, I'll—"

"Do be sure to tell Lloyd though," Sebastion mentioned again. "His father won't just be out for tonight, but tomorrow night as well."

"I don't see why it's so important, but I'll be sure to tell him. I'll talk to you later Sebastian," Zelos said dismissively, earning a small dismissive response from the butler as he closed his phone. "Hey Bud." Brown eyes broke away from an unimportant conversation he'd been holding with Sheena to look over at him in question. "So, I don't know why Sebastian wanted me to mention it to you, but he wanted me to tell you that your dad is going to be guarding my house for a few days, starting tonight and tomorrow night."

At first, Lloyd just nodded his head absentmindedly, as if he were waiting for something more important to be said, but then very suddenly, his eyes widened and he stopped moving all together, which struck Zelos as an odd reaction. Then, the brunet got up from the lunch table, dragging Sheena along behind him. Lloyd then, before the redhead had much time to react, turned back to him and point a finger in his direction to let him know the next few words were for him.

"STAY! I'm serious Zelos, stay or else… I don't know, but it'll be something bad, so STAY!" Lloyd said louder than he'd intended, drawing some attention his way.

The brunet ignored the awkward stares then continued off, Sheena's hand in his. Zelos's fingers twitched unintentionally at the whole idea of Sheena's hand being in Lloyd's for some reason. The way Lloyd had reacted to the seemingly useless information made Zelos uncomfortably curious to the point that he had to hold himself back to keep from following the two to see what was going on. Lloyd had seemed serious enough when he'd spoken to him the way he did, but Zelos didn't see the point in talking to Sheena about whatever it was that was going on instead of him. Sure, they'd been friends for years, but since Zelos wasn't sure what exactly was going on, he had an unsettling feeling at the pit of his stomach.

Regardless of the stabbing pain in his gut and longing to know what was going on, he waited in his seat, just as he was told to… as much as he wanted to get up and follow.

-In some "secretive" part of the school-

Lloyd looked around in every nook and cranny, making sure that no one had followed him and that no one was around to hear what was going to be said, and to his best judgment, Zelos had listened to him and no one else was around except for Sheena. She'd appeared to be just as nervous as he was, since she'd caught onto what was happening as soon as he had.

"Well, you know Lloyd, he might wait until you get home after work before going out and, well, you know…," Sheena said quietly, tapping her left foot nervously against the ground.

"That's the thing though. I DON'T know when he's going to be there. For all I know, he could be waiting to answer the door since he's going to be GUARDING Zelos's house for whatever reason! My dad always makes sure to do a good job at whatever he's been hired to do. Sheena, I'm fucking screwed," Lloyd whined.

"Well, I'll call in for you for the next two days. Maybe—"

"If that happens, Zelos might actually fire me though," Lloyd said. "He sounded serious when he mentioned it earlier."

"I won't let it happen," Sheena said, trying her best to calm Lloyd down. It was apparent that her best wasn't near good enough. "So why don't you just let me call in for—"

"And then what do I tell my dad? He's going to expect me to go to work." Lloyd had started pacing back and forth. "Sheena, I can't do this. I've got to quit. If my dad is going to be guarding their house, it's only a matter of time before he fins out what's going on between me and Zelos… and my job."

"Oh, you know you can't quit. You've got to remember our be—"

"I haven't worked that long. Go ahead and just go to Zelos's house, ask to pick up Dolly's check and say you're going to give it to her," Lloyd sighed. "It'll be the only paycheck I've made, so just take it. Then I could just work for Zelos without lying to him about who I really am and what keeps me busy most of the time. He said he'd pay me, so it doesn't matter right? I could just work and we could still keep the bet going."

"No, the deal was—"

"Sheena, I don't—"

"LET ME FINISH TALKING PLEASE!" Sheena snapped at him, tired of being cut off in the middle of her speaking. Lloyd stopped speaking to let her finish, not wanting to upset her any more than he already had. "Anyways, the deal was that you HAD to work in the dress. Remember? I'd made those two conditions."

"Then just take the stupid money Sheena. I don't want to lie to him about this anymore. Dolly just needs to disappear!"

Sheena looked like she was about to start having a fit, but she was interrupted by a small voice.

"Who's Dolly?"

Lloyd had just about fainted after hearing those words, but as soon as he had whirled around to see who it was that had spoken up, he relaxed a little bit. It was just Presea, Genis's fairly awkward girlfriend. She'd always been friendly towards Lloyd, but the boy didn't really know how to respond to her. For the most part, when she'd join a conversation, she was very quiet and kept her comments as short as she possibly could. Plus, the way she stared so blankly and distantly at people creeped Lloyd a bit. Despite her strangeness though, Lloyd knew he could trust her to keep something secret if need be.

"She was Lloyd's girlfriend," Sheena spoke up in place of Lloyd.

The pink-haired girl tilted her head at the answer in question. "But I thought Lloyd was going out with Zelos. Did I mishear what Raine was telling Genis yesterday?"

"No you heard right," Lloyd said. "Dolly WAS my girlfriend, but now she's not."

Presea tapped a small finger to her lips, obviously thinking about something. The three sat in silence for a while before she came up with something to say.

"Hm, I must not have met her. Genis never talked about her either, and he sure likes to talk about anything that pertains to you a lot," Presaid said quietly, still pondering to herself about Dolly. "Oh well, I hope everything goes okay for you. You both sounded pretty distressed when I came over here. Genis says hi by the way, Lloyd. He's been sick the past few days, but he's been hoping to hang out with you soon. I'm sure he'd been meaning to ask but just kept forgetting to call and ask you. Maybe in your free time you could give him a call and see if he's free too."

"Thanks, Presea. I'll be sure to do that as soon as I can," Lloyd smiled politely, a small spark of happiness flickering across his face. He had missed hanging out with Genis. He didn't blame Presea for his sudden absence, since at the beginning of their relationship, she didn't even know she was Genis's girlfriend. It was more of Genis hanging around the girl to be noticed that made the two friends drift apart. "I'll see you later, Presea."

"Have a good day, Lloyd," the girl said, waving as she walked away to find something else to do.

Lloyd took a deep breath, relieved the girl didn't bother to press much into the whole Dolly subject. She may have been more reserved than most people, but it didn't take long for her to figure something out, and since Genis was the main person she spoke to, it wouldn't take long for other people to know what she'd discovered. Lloyd could only hope he hadn't given her enough information to figure anything out.

"So, Lloyd. I've got a proposition for you," Sheena said, successfully grabbing Lloyd's attention. "If you can make it one month all together, I'll let you keep your money. Even though the past couple days shouldn't count since you weren't really working, you're already almost at two weeks."

"You know you missed a whole week without calling in, if I remember correctly," Lloyd frowned. Sheena ignored the comment and waited for an actual answer. "Well, what about your money that you would be giving me?"

"You won't get it. You only get that if you stay as long as I did. You should feel lucky that I'm so willing to negotiate with you about this," Sheena snorted stubbornly.

"Fine, fine, so what if my dad finds out. You know if that happens, he'll tell Zelos, and he'll probably…" Lloyd kept himself from finishing his sentence, not wanting to let himself say what he feared.

Sheena reached up to the brunet's shoulder as she tried her best to give him a reassuring smile. "We'll make sure that doesn't happen. We'll just have to think of something before you get to work. Plus we'll need to get you a nicer scarf to cover that weird little collar."

"Why does everything bad that could possibly happen have to happen all at once?" Lloyd sighed, rubbing at his forehead. "Text me if you come up with anything, okay? Or write stuff down so we can talk about it after school. I'm sure Zelos is just about to die of curiousity just sitting and waiting for us to get back out there."

The girl nodded in agreement and followed Lloyd back to the lunch table. As Lloyd had guessed, Zelos was very impatiently tapping his fingers at the table beneath them. Once blue eyes locked onto brown, Zelos stood up from his seat, walked over to Lloyd before he sat down, grabbed him and hugged him as tightly as he could. Lloyd could feel Zelos's fingers digging into the back of his shirt.

"Is… everything okay, Zelos?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah," Zelos said quietly. "Lloyd, I…"

The redhead was going to finish off with something along the lines of 'I don't want you to go off alone with her anymore', but he stopped himself, thinking it would be stupid to request something like that. Sheena was his best friend after all. There was no way the boy would even consider an outrageous request like that. Plus if Sheena had found out that he'd said something like that to Lloyd, in front of her no less, he would have hell to pay, and the girl would make his life as miserable as she possibly could.

"You…?" Lloyd said, grabbing Zelos's attention.

"…I hope everything is okay," Zelos responded, finally finishing his sentence. "Anyways, why don't we just get back to eating?" The redhead grabbed at Lloyd's hand and tugged him back to the table to sit down. "You guys were gone for a while. I missed you."

"Oh, get over it," Sheena huffed, taking her seat as well. "I've never seen you so clingy in my life."

"Yeah, well, Lloyd is special," Zelos huffed back at her, wrapping his arms around the other boy. Lloyd just shook his head, wriggled an arm free and continued eating. "I'm free to miss him if he's gone, no matter how long it is. So, what were you guys talking about that was so important you had to walk away anyways?"

"It's nothing," Lloyd mumbled, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it too much. Everything will get figured out."

"So there is something wrong," Zelos said, tightening his grip ever so slightly around Lloyd's waist.

"But you don't need to worry about it," Sheena said, emphasizing what Lloyd had just said.

So Zelos did as suggested, not before giving Sheena a small, unnoticed glare, and sighed, dropping the subject as was expected of him. He then nuzzled up to Lloyd for just a moment and released him so the boy could eat his lunch a little easier. Despite having dropped the conversation as easily as he did, Zelos was still troubled by how Lloyd had reacted.

"_I know we hardly even know each other and he should be entitled to have his secrets for now, but I can't help but feel a little… concerned that he doesn't want to tell me what's going on,_" Zelos thought to himself. "_I really shouldn't be talking though. I've certainly got my secrets… Still, I hope everything will be okay. He seemed really upset when he dragged Sheena off._"

-At Zelos's mansion-

Things were going well so far. Kratos hadn't shown up yet due to a minor episode with Yuan, so Lloyd was thankful for that. Lloyd hoped that Yuan would help him the next day so he wouldn't greet him at the door, recognize him and blow his cover. Sebastian had let him know that he would do his best to have Kratos out of the way and preoccupied before he was supposed to report to work. Luckily, Zelos wasn't all too interested in hanging around "Dolly" at all since he was too busy tearing his own room apart looked for the key to the collar hanging around Lloyd's neck.

As thankful as Lloyd was for how things were progressing so far, he wasn't exactly enjoying the method Sheena had come up with to hide the collar and, more importantly, suppress the bell from making any noise. Instead of just grabbing a different scarf that Zelos wouldn't recognize as his own, she had insisted that he wear a rather larger pink and white feather boa. It had done its job fairly well, seeing as that the noise had been completely blocked out, but Lloyd definitely didn't like how the feathers would occasionally fly up to his face. One had managed to get stuck in his nose, tempting him to just rip the boa from around his neck, through it on the ground after he had shred it up, and maybe jump on it a couple of times. At the time however, Zelos had happened to cross paths with him, so he just sighed, plucked the pink feather from his nose and continued searching the house for the key. The sooner they found it, the sooner the boa could come off and be ripped apart in a dark alley while no one was watching.

Lloyd had asked if he could help Zelos look for the key in the bedroom so he could be close to him, despite still being slightly upset for the loss of the key in the first place, but the other had just grunted out a "no" and then motioned for Lloyd to go over to the kitchen. So there Lloyd was, uselessly tipping over random pots and pans, looking under the tables and chairs, looking for the key, knowing he probably wasn't going to find it. The kitchen did give him a nice look out to see if Kratos was coming. He hoped by the time his dad had gotten there that Zelos would be a little more willing to accept some help so he could get out of sight for a while.

About twenty minutes after Zelos had told Lloyd to go scavenging through the kitchen, Lloyd heard the doorbell ring, making him snap his attention over to the front door. From where he was standing, Lloyd could tell it was his dad at the door due to seeing his hair through a window next to the entrance. Sebastian was quick to appear and suggest the boy head upstairs.

"Do you think you could convince Zelos to just let me look with him?" Lloyd asked, his expression pleading.

"Ah, sir?" Sebastian called to Zelos from the kitchen.

"WHAT?!" Zelos yelled from his room, not bothering to even peek his head out to talk without yelling.

"If you wouldn't mind, I would prefer it if you and Dolly searched for that key together. I'm pretty sure it's somewhere up in your room anyways. I've searched high and low for it just about everywhere else," Sebastian said.

"Ah, well, I—"

"I'm sending her up anyways," Sebastian said without letting Zelos have any time to reply. "Please be nice."

There was no response from Zelos that time so Lloyd took that as the okay to head on up. As he ran up the stairs, he whispered a quick thank you to Sebastian. The butler simply smile and nodded as he headed off to answer the front door. Before Sebastian opened the door to let Kratos in, he turned to make sure Lloyd was out of sight. When he saw he was, he opened the door with a friendly smile and invited Kratos in.

"So what is it that you need me for?" the man asked, looking around to try and locate Zelos. "I hope you don't mind that I brought my, er, friend with me. I'm kind of afraid to leave him alone at the house with how he's been acting. The doctor's he was with gave him some pretty strong medicine."

"You mean Yuan, sir?" Sebastian asked. "Zelos has told me that you two have…"

"Ah, well, yes, uhm—"

"I'll show him to the guest bedroom if you'd like and I'll have the maid tend to him every now and again. You have nothing to worry about," Sebastian smiled, peering over his shoulder to find the blunet waving awkwardly out the passenger side window of Kratos's car. "If you don't mind helping me get him up there, I'll tell you about why I needed you here so last minute as you do."

Kratos simply nodded in agreement as he showed the elder man out to his car.

-Up in Zelos's room-

Lloyd had made it a point to get up to Zelos's room as quickly as he could, closing the door as soon as he'd gotten there. The sound of the door closing made Zelos look up and frown slightly, but he was just as quick to getting back to tearing his bed apart. The brunet felt a little awkward just standing there as Zelos ignored him, but he was happy to be able to be near him for the time being. Every time Lloyd tried to get close to Zelos though, the redhead would act as if something had distracted him and move to the other side of his bed. Lloyd didn't know if he should think he was being sweet or rude because he was doing his best to respect the relationship he had with Lloyd.

After the third time Lloyd had casually made his way over to Zelos and the other boy had walked away again, the brunet sighed and gave up, deciding it would be useless to continue trying. The action didn't go by the redhead unnoticed though, and Lloyd saw him tense up just a bit. In an attempt to make the decently awkward aura fade a bit, Lloyd decided to start a conversation.

"So how are you today?" Lloyd asked, raising the pitch of his voice.

Again, Lloyd saw the other boy stiffen up a little, but he knew he wouldn't be so rude as to not respond at all. After all, Zelos had been raised as a "proper aristocrat" for a good portion of his life, so not responding to someone was something he found difficult to do.

"Pretty good," was all he said, not even turning his head up to Lloyd.

"That's good," Lloyd said, his smile going unnoticed. "I heard that you and Lloyd have gotten pretty close."

"Yeah, we have." Again, that was all the redhead had intended to say in response. Lloyd wasn't particularly happy with that though, so he decided to ask something that would involve an actual conversation.

"I heard you guys have started dating," Lloyd grinned, finally getting Zelos to look up at him. "Yeah, even though we don't talk much, Sheena has been letting me know what's been happening with him."

For a while, Zelos just stared at Lloyd, making the brunet uncomfortable and start pulling at one of the sheets at the bed. The silk feeling between his fingers was making him start to tug at them a little harder to feel more, but after thinking about what he was doing, he stopped so Zelos wouldn't suspect anything. Even after he stopped though, when he looked back up to Zelos, he found he was still being stared at, but it wasn't the longing or adoring stare he'd gotten used to. Instead it was a more intense stare than he was comfortable with.

And finally, Zelos spoke.

"What in the world were you thinking?"

Brown eyes widened, shocked that Zelos would ask him something like that. Of course it was directed at Dolly and not him, but he didn't think Zelos would actually come out and ask a girl something like that, especially if he didn't want much to do with them anymore.

"I-I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you mean, sir," Lloyd said.

"Don't give me that." Again, Lloyd was too stunned to say anything. "Was it all just a trick to get to someone you thought was better? You just went around acting like you were the perfect girlfriend to make other guys want you and when you found out that they did, you would—"

"So you did like me?"

"Yes, but I definitely don't now," Zelos frowned. "Lloyd is the most amazing person I know and you fall for someone like me, someone you don't know, someone who would just hit on you without reason, someone who's got a bad reputation among everyone, especially Sheena. I just don't get it. For someone who was supposed to be as kind and as well mannered as you pretended to be, how in the world could someone like me catch your eye? Lloyd and you… you two were perfect, not that I'm not happy to be with him. I'm happier than I've ever been. But you… how could something be so wrong that you just didn't want to be with him anymore?"

"And what about you?" Lloyd asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you're known as THE ladies man. You could win over any girl you wanted if you really wanted to, yet you fall for someone you never knew, someone that doesn't know anything about you apparently, and isn't a girl. You're acting so differently around him than you have any girl you've ever met like the old you never even existed. How could somebody be so special that you'd change just for him?" Lloyd felt he was swimming in some dangerous waters for asking something like that, but it had been nagging at him since Sheena had mentioned it. He didn't really expect much of an answer, or that maybe Zelos would fire him on the spot, but he thought some sort of an answer would help put his mind at ease if he got anything at all.

"How DARE you speak to me like you think you know me?" Zelos growled, making Lloyd take a step back. "You have no right to assume anything about me or say Lloyd isn't special enough for me to want to change who I am. You should know how amazing Lloyd is. You're the one who dated him for so long. You tell ME why you would want to ever give him up for someone who would've only wanted you for one night of fun?!"

"I, well, I just—"

"Don't answer that," Zelos snapped. "I don't want to hear you put him down. He doesn't deserve that."

"Then why would you look at me like you looked at him? Obviously you harbored some sort of feelings for me that you have for him. That can't just disappear," Lloyd said.

"And how would you even know how I look at him? It's not like you were ever around to even notice."

"But Sheena sure noticed."

"Oh is that it? Why don't you two just get together since you seem to talk to her more than you did with Lloyd. In fact, since you two talk so much, you can tell her to keep the hell away from my boyfriend since she's got her googly little eyes on him and I don't like it," Zelos said, pulling his sheets completely off his bed and throwing them at the wall behind him.

"What in the world are you talking about?! Sheena doesn't like anybody! Especially not Lloyd. They're better friends than anyone I know," Lloyd said, getting upset that Zelos would say something like that. "She would never think about taking him from you."

"Then you haven't been paying attention when you all hung out. She's definitely had her eyes on him for a while. She probably didn't say anything to you since you guys were going out for a while. You'll hear it eventually, I'm sure of it."

Lloyd suddenly heard footsteps coming up the stairs, as well as Sebastian and his dad's voices exchanging words in a conversation. Soon after, there was a knock on the door and Lloyd immediately made his way to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

"Hey, I'm not done being mad at you yet! Get back out here and talk to—" A knock on his door alerting Zelos that someone was there. "Yes?"

"I told you to be nice, sir," Sebastian said through the wall.

"Ah, er, sorry," the redhead grumbled. Lloyd heard him open the door and say hello to Kratos as well as footsteps headed towards the bathroom after Sebastian said to go apologize. "Hey, Dolly, open the door."

Lloyd hadn't heard the door to his room close, so he didn't want to open the door in case his dad was still standing there. There were a few knocks on the door followed by the doorknob being jiggled in an attempt to open it, but since Lloyd was leaning back against it, Zelos wasn't able to.

"Dolly, hey, let me in, I'm trying to, you know, say sorry," Zelos said, a frown more than likely on his face. He put a little more force into trying to open the door. "Seriously, open the door." Lloyd put as much of his body weight into the door as he could, keeping Zelos out for at least a little longer. At long last, he heard Sebastian close the door to the bedroom and footsteps walking away so he eased up on the door so Zelos could open it. "Okay, that's it."

Just as Lloyd had backed away from the door and turned around to open it, Zelos had swung it open by turning the handle and shoving his whole body onto it, causing him to run right into Lloyd and tumbling over on top of him. A small "eep" had escaped Lloyd's mouth as he hit the ground and Zelos glowered down at him.

"Dammit woman," he said through his teeth. "You know some people actually pay me to sit like this on them."

"What is that?" Lloyd suddenly asked.

"Uh, what? I'm pretty sure a woman—"

"Not that," Lloyd frowned, a dangerous glare appearing on his face. "That thing hanging out of your hood."

"What?" Zelos said again, casually sitting up on top of Lloyd without standing up and pulling the hood to his hoodie out and around so he could look inside of it. "Oh. Well… what do you know…"

The redhead pulled a small silver key out of his hood and stood up, a big goofy grin on his face. It took bit of strength in Lloyd's body to not reach up and start strangling the man standing above him. When Zelos offered a hand to help him up, Lloyd gladly took it, squeezing it as hard as he could to the point he'd heard a small pop from one of the fingers in his grasp. The death resulted in a wince of pain from Zelos, but the redhead didn't say much about it thinking it was for the argument that they'd had earlier.

"Yeah, so, I guess-"

"Please… give that to me," Lloyd said, making a grab at the key. Zelos just held it high enough that he couldn't get to it. "Zelos."

"I'll give it to you, just not right now. I'm holding onto it until you have to leave. THEN you can give it to Sheena so I make sure that Lloyd gets it," Zelos said, wagging his finger. "Anyways, will you let me say what I needed to say? Sebastian won't be happy if I don't, and I don't keep him around to make him upset."

"You can't hold onto that key! You're going to lose it again!" Lloyd snapped, trying to jump up and grab the key from the redhead's hand.

"And what makes you think I'm going to lose it?"

"How in the world did it end up in the hood of your hoodie?!"

"You know… that's a good question," Zelos said, pondering to himself for a moment as he tried to think of a reason that would make a bit of sense. "You know, so long as you keep it in your pocket on your dress, I guess I can let you hold onto it. Just make sure to give it to Sheena as soon as she gets here."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to do that, just give it to me right now, please." Lloyd was now standing on his tip toes and stretching his arms as far up as he could. "Trust me, he'll get it."

"I think that's why I liked you," Zelos said, a small awkward smile on his face.

"What?" Lloyd had frozen in place, confused that he would even say that.

"You know, you two are so alike in how you act. There're just these little things that you and him have in common, not just how you two look." Lloyd furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he got off his tip toes and just stood.

"But you met me first. I don't understand what you mean…"

"Well, yeah, sure, I had the opportunity to like you first, and I guess I did, but there was just something about Lloyd that I just can't put my finger on. For one thing, I've never actually been able to be friends with a guy in a long time because most of what any of them have to say about me anymore when I meet them is that I'm just a dirty player loaded up on all sorts of diseases or whatever," Zelos smirked. "Not him though. I think he was actually a little shy when he first met me. He's just got the most adorable personality… I love it."

"'Love' it?" Lloyd felt his heart flutter a little as he repeated that word.

"I know, I know, it's way too soon to say anything like that to him. Heck, I might be able to say something like that to him after a year or two, and then the actual… you know… the… THE sentence… That probably won't be for a while, which I guess I don't mind. I…" Zelos paused and stared at Lloyd who was staring back at him very intently. "Why in the world am I so comfortable talking to you about our relationship? I'm supposed to be angry at you for being so mean to my Bud."

"I dunno," Lloyd shrugged, a small blush on his cheeks. "I don't really mind. It… makes me happy that you're happy, even if it's with someone else."

Another silence had fallen over the two as they stood there, Zelos still holding the key over his head. It, fortunately, didn't last too long.

"You know, it may be nice to have you as a friend to talk to," Zelos said, bringing the key down and handing it over to Lloyd. "If you aren't still mad at me for yelling at you… which I'm still sorry for by the way."

Out of nowhere, there was suddenly hysterical laughter coming from behind them, making both boys jump. A very large scowl formed onto Lloyd's face as Zelos just tilted his head, confused as to why the person who was standing in front of them was laughing… and just for being there.

"Hi Yuan," Lloyd said.

"Oh my gosh, ahahahahaha, you… you—" But the hysterical blunet was unable to finish his sentence and continued laughing at Lloyd, probably because he was dressed up so ridiculously.

"Uhm, I'd heard that you were in the hospital. Are you feeling better already?" Lloyd asked, trying to ignore the laughing.

"What are you doing here anyways?" Zelos asked.

"He's with me," Kratos's voice came up, spooking Lloyd into pretending that he was cleaning the shower. "I'm sorry about him. He was supposed to be staying in the guest bedroom since he's a little loopy because of the medicine the doctors gave him to help him with the pain. I guess Sebastian hasn't told your maid that she needs to take care of him until she's off since I'm going to be busy elsewhere."

"Ah, no he didn't. Well, why don't you just leave him to us and we'll get him and Dolly to where they need to be," Zelos said, tugging at Yuan, who was still laughing, to get him out of the bathroom. "I'm pretty sure you need all the time you can get to get started on the job Sebastian has for you."

"Are you sure you two can handle him? He's not exactly easy to just drag around, and, Dolly, right?" Zelos nodded seeing as that Lloyd was still turned away from the auburn haired man and pretending not to hear him. "She doesn't look particularly… strong enough to carry him with you."

"Don't worry about us, we'll be just fine," Zelos said, waving his hand at Kratos to motion to him that he could leave. "Isn't that right, Dolly?"

"Mhmm," Lloyd responded, his voice faltering a little and going a tad higher in pitch than he'd intended.

"See, we'll be fine. You go on and get doing what you're here to do. We don't want to waste your time," Zelos smiled.

Kratos tried one last time to peer around and take a better look at "Dolly", but Lloyd was intent on not being seen since he was hiding behind the door of the shower and the glass blurred his Dad's vision just enough that he couldn't get a good enough look.

"If you're really sure," Kratos said, turning his attention to the still laughing blunet. "Yuan, don't be rude. Be nice to them and… just be quiet okay?"

After that, Kratos turned to leave, trying to get one more glance back at Dolly, and when he couldn't, he just shrugged and walked off to look for Sebastian who was downstairs making food for him. Once he was gone, Zelos sighed, walked past Yuan who was now near to tears, and over to Lloyd to pull him out of the shower.

"What was that all about?" Zelos frowned down at Lloyd.

"Ah, well, it's a little complicated. He's not really happy with me and stuff… you know with all the stuff that happened—"

"He doesn't know you're name. Dude, Yuan, shut up," Zelos groaned.

"Well, you see, we didn't really give him my real name so, uh, he doesn't really… well…"

"You know, it doesn't really concern me," Zelos sighed, rubbing his fingers at his head. "Let's get the giggling idiot to his bed and I'll go get Sebastian to make something for us and him to eat. You can handle him right?"

"Oh yeah… I'm more than confident I can," Lloyd said, frowning at Yuan. The man was just about on his knees from laughing so hard.

"_You had better not blow my cover, or I'm going to kill you in the most gruesome way possible you idiot,_" Lloyd growled mentally. "_And then I'll bring you back to life and kill you in the second most gruesome way possible… and then… I don't know, but it'll be something you really don't like..._"

After they'd managed to get Yuan out of the bedroom and his giggling had died down, he turned up to Lloyd and managed to snort out, "You're in a dress." His frenzied laughing started up once more, resulting in Zelos shaking his head and Lloyd thinking of exactly how he was going to murder Yuan in his sleep.

**Review of the … past couple months? ::**

**amikaze ::  
**Argh, so much busy-ness TT^TT I really should just take a day or two off a month to just write xD but I think my manager might get a little suspicious if I did that. Sorry for making you wait again though.  
Oh my goodness, xD I'm so glad you like the flirty fluff as much as I do. It's one of my favorite things to write (besides my review responses :"D) to be totally honest :3 Oh my gosh, I've actually had something like that happen to me, except it wasn't near as embarrassing of course. A past boyfriend of mine had locked a bracelet on my wrist that was too tight for me to wear and he'd left the key at home. =n= Thank god it was only a day, but I was a little pissy at him. But it didn't take to long to get over it. ^^  
Oh, I won't ruin anything for you, but things are about to get VERY interesting (for the next chapter actually). xD ohmygawsh, I agree, Sebastian certainly is very… well, as you said, 'sadistic'… heh…hehe… don't mind me. X3 I'm so sorry for making you wait for this chapter Dx I hope it's okay. I've just got so much I want to put into the next chapter that this chapter may not be… well… you'll see I guess D: I just hope it's okay. xC  
*gives a big bag of candy for being so awesome*  
PS :: I was kind of a little bit of everything… straightener, stocker, backroom locater, overnight ad person… everything the store wanted me to do except cashier. I refused to. I actually just quit today so I can have more time to write! :D Now I'm basically a janitor at a hospital :3 I make almost double what I made at Kmart. I'm quite happy where I am now ^^

**Arrrggghhh, again, sorry for the wait and sorry if it's not exactly what you were looking for me to write. (_ _ ;;;) As said before, I've just been writing here and there so it's just a little hodgepodge of random moments of me writing. But now that I've actually planned exactly what's going to happen next on a few small sticky notes… the next chapter might make some more sense and be more fun to read. Aaaagghhhhh… I just don't feel like I did very good on this chapter and I don't want to make you guys wait anymore. Q . Q Forgive me. I love you all.**

**A special thanks to a wonderful reader of mine on DA, Ulqui92Soul for donating so many points to me. If you see this, I'm making you a super special awesome piece of art… and if you don't see this, prepared to be surprised! :'D**


	16. Chaptero dieciseiso

Chapter 16  
The New Job

Author :: banANNU

Rated :: M

**I'm sorry… I'm just really not in a mood to respond right now. I loved every one of your reviews… I'm just in a little bit of a funk right now so I don't want to chance saying anything stupid to such lovely words of confidence.  
; . ;**

**Disclaimer :: I don't own Tales of Symphonia or any of its characters. I make no money by writing this fic.**

Enjoy  
Chapter 16

**Dinner Date**

It was somewhere near to an hour before Yuan had finally calmed down since Lloyd was the one to cause the laughter and he was the one to have to sit and watch over him the entire time. He'd been too riled up to even eat any of the food Sebastian had made for him, and now that he was finally quiet, he had worn himself out to the point that he just fell asleep. So Lloyd just sat there, anxiously waiting for Yuan to wake up and possibly have a little more sense in him to start eating. He hoped when he woke up that he wouldn't carelessly spout out who he really was, especially I either Zelos or Kratos were walking by, but that was all Lloyd could do. Hope.

Zelos had gone off somewhere else about the time Yuan had fallen asleep and had guaranteed Lloyd that he'd be back every so often to check up on the two to make sure everything was going alright. Sebastian had come in once Zelos had left to let Lloyd know that he was going to keep Kratos as busy as he possibly could and out of the room until Lloyd was off work. As for now, he was alone, waiting for either Zelos to come in and check on him or for Yuan to wake up and see how he was doing. As he impatiently waited, since it had already been an hour and a half since Yuan had passed out, Lloyd looked for anything that needed to be cleaned and made sure it was absolutely spotless. Lloyd was in the middle of dusting a small table top off when he heard something shift behind him.

The brunet quickly averted his eyes to a mirror hanging up just about the table he was cleaning on the wall and noticed it was Yuan finally getting up. Lloyd immediately whirled around, appearing at the bedside to see if Yuan had any sense in him at all. When groggy, blue eyes met up with anxious brown, they squinted just a bit and then were rubbed as Yuan shook his head. After that was all done, the blunet looked to the boy again, and then looked around the room to see precisely where he was.

"… Lloyd?" he finally asked, locking stares with the brunet once again.

"Yeah, don't say it too loud though," Lloyd said in a whisper, glad that Yuan was finally making sense of what was going on. "Dad is here too, so—"

"Where are we?"

"At Zelos's. But like I was saying, Dad is here doing a job or something for Sebastian and so you need to—"

"Why are you in a dress?"

"… I work as a maid fo Zelos… remember?" Lloyd said flatly, getting fairly annoyed with the constant questions interrupting his talking. "You have to remember to call me Dolly, okay Yuan?"

The blunet silently nodded as he resumed with looking around the room to better figure out where he was as well as everything else. When he looked down to the bed for whatever reason, some of his hair had fallen into his face since it wasn't in the normal ponytail he'd keep it in. He huffed and tossed his head to the side to get the few strands out of his face and then grabbed the rest of his hair and twirled it around some so it would stay at his backside. He then turned to Lloyd, a faint flicker of a smile on his face that disturbed the brunet a little.

"This isn't some sort of dream is it?" Yuan half grinned.

Lloyd frowned, punched Yuan's arm as hard as he could from where he was sitting and said, "If this was a dream, that wouldn't have hurt, you'd be in your own bed, and I wouldn't be the one in the dress. In fact, you'd better not be dreaming about me at all, asshole."

"Heh, I was just askin'. So are you supposed to be taking care of me or something?" Yuan asked, rubbing at his arm.

"You seriously don't remember anything that happened to you before you were brought in this room?" Lloyd frowned.

Yuan sat for a moment, rubbing at the back of his neck as he tried to remember what had happened.

"I think it's just bits and pieces to be honest. I remember calling Sebastian this morning… I don't really remember why though… I think it had to do something with you." He looked to Lloyd and he just shrugged in response. "Uhm, I vaguely remember talking to Kratos about… stuff. I don't remember much about that either. Oh, and I remember laughing. Lots and lots of laughing… and then now," Yuan said, nodding his head every so often to clarify what he had recalled.

"And now you're just fine," Lloyd sighed thankfully. "I thought it would be another few hours before you were actually going to be able to think properly. Your laugh attack was quite scary."

"You know, I am still pretty worn-out for some reason, probably that stupid medicine that the doctor's gave me to help with my pain before I left the hospital. I'm pretty sure that if I tried to stand up that I'd fall right back down, and judging by how badly my chest is starting to hurt, I'm pretty sure that's not a good idea." A small grin cracked across the older man's face. "So I'm assuming Kratos hasn't seen you yet, because I doubt he wouldn't see through that outfit and makeup in a heartbeat."

"No, he hasn't. Well, he hasn't really had a GOOD look at me anyways. I'm surprised that Zelos hasn't figured it out yet, seeing as that you went on for a while after you figured it out, and you weren't even fully there." Yuan blinked innocently at the remark. "Yeah, I'm the reason you remember laughing so much. God, that went on for Martel knows how long. You know I was about to strangle you."

The blunet was going to say something in response, but there was a very sudden knocking at the door that spooked Lloyd from the bedside and all the way to the other side of the room to pretend he was cleaning something.

"Ah, uhm, who is it?" Lloyd asked nervously.

"It's just me, Zelos," the redhead spoke as he entered in through the door on his own. "Oh, I see you're up. You're not going to die of laughter anytime soon, are you?"

"Very funny. I was actually going to ask Dolly to get me something to drink. I'm pretty parched right now… must've been all that laughing that everyone seems to be talking about," Yuan replied. "But now that you're here, maybe you could go and ask Sebastian for a nice hot cup of tea?"

"Yeah, sure thing." Zelos turned to Lloyd. "Are you doing okay in here by yourself?" Lloyd nodded his response as he resumed his spot by the bedside. "Okay, if you're certain. I'll be right back once Sebastian is all done with your tea."

And with that, Zelos left the room, shutting the door behind him. Lloyd heaved out a sigh as he turned to Yuan. The older man just chuckled a little and pat the boy on the head.

"You're in for a long few months," Yuan said, ruffling up the boy's hair just enough to pull some of it out of the tiny pigtails it'd been put into. Lloyd frowned disapprovingly as he rushed off to the guest bathroom to go and fix his hair. "So long as nothing bad happens again, I'll be sure to help you the best I can."

-The next day at school-

"Are you all right bud?" Zelos asked Lloyd as he walked over go greet the boy with a hug. "You don't look so good. Did you get any sleep last night?"

The brunet just sighed, shook his head and handed the collar over to Zelos so he wouldn't have to look at it anymore. As soon as Lloyd was able to leave Zelos's mansion the night prior when Sheena had come to pick him up, Kratos had suddenly decided to take Yuan home since he had just about recovered and was thinking a little more properly. Trying to dodge his father was a bit of a chore, seeing as that they were both trying to leave at the same time, but everything turned out okay. Once Lloyd had got home from Sheena's he was called upstairs to talk with Yuan to see how everything was going. That part wasn't so bad. It mostly consisted of Yuan teasing Lloyd for having been in a dress and how ridiculous he looked. It wasn't until Lloyd was just about to leave the room to get some sleep when Yuan said something that kept Lloyd up all night.

"I think your dad saw you at some point when you were talking to Zelos. He didn't say much about it, other than you looked a lot like, well, you."

Lloyd had done everything he possibly could after that to avoid all contact with his father. When he'd come to wake Lloyd up to get ready for school, the boy had made sure the covers and all his pillows were securely around him so Kratos wouldn't see him. When breakfast was put out on the table, Lloyd had exclaimed he wasn't hungry, despite the fact that he really was, and ran back upstairs to get his bag together. And when it was finally time to head off to school, Lloyd had called Sheena to come pick him up so his dad wouldn't be able to drive him. He knew the next chance his father got, he would question the boy on the spot to try and figure out what was going on. The way Lloyd saw it though, the longer he could keep Kratos from seeing him, the harder it would be to remember what Dolly looked like and then possibly tie the two together and ruin everything.

And after all the trouble he was going through, once Lloyd had tried to bring up the subject of quitting again, Sheena had denied him of his wish and said he needed to stick it out the best he could. She did mention if she suspected his cover would be blown, she would be a little more willing consider letting Lloyd quit, but that was only if she suspected it. Lloyd was completely exempt simply because he could've been trying to "weasel his way out of an uncomfortable situation.

So there he was, more tired and paranoid than he'd ever been in his life, clutching to Zelos as tightly as he could for comfort The very thought of losing someone who cared so deeply for him scared him more than he thought it would.

"Is there something bothering you Lloyd? I honestly expected you to be a little more, you know, upset about the whole key thing. I would've have thought you'd be—". But Zelos wasn't able to finish his sentence. Lloyd had tiptoed his way up to plant a small kiss on the redhead's lips. Once the brunet pulled away, Zelos couldn't help but to smile and say, "I thought I still had a whole week."

"Sh-shut up Zelos," Lloyd mumbled, punching his boyfriend in the shoulder. "If you didn't want one, you could've said something about it before I actually did it."

"Oh, don't say stuff like that," Zelos grinned, nuzzling Lloyd's nose to his. "You know  
I love it when you kiss me first. Now, I certainly wouldn't mind a little more…"

There was a very sudden, disgusted noise from behind the two, making Zelos growl, agitated. He turned around to stick his tongue out at the grimacing girl who'd been watching the two for a while at that point.

"And what's up with you little Ms. Sunshine?" Zelos asked, clutching to Lloyd a little tighter than before.

"Can't you two do your business when I'm NOT around?" Sheena frowned. "It'd also be nice if you wouldn't just forget that I'm standing here and just doze off into your own little worlds."

"Oh get over it. You're just mad that he's going out with me and I get him all to myself all the time and you don't get to anymore," Zelos said, sticking his tongue out once more.

Sheena just chuckled out her response partially since she got more than enough alone time with Lloyd when he's change into Dolly and partially since she knew a big secret about Lloyd that Zelos didn't. The action made Zelos's lip twitch angrily, seeing as it wasn't the reply he was expecting from her and then reached down to grab Lloyd's hand to pull him away somewhere else where Sheena wasn't.

Lloyd simply sighed, thinking Zelos genuinely thought that Sheena was actually jealous that he was going out with the redhead instead of going out with her. The brunet thought Zelos was a little out of his mind for thinking something like that, especially since he and Sheena had been best friends for nearly ten years, but it didn't look like he would be changing Zelos's mind on that anytime soon. He'd planned on asking Sheena to tell Zelos it wasn't true the night before, but it had slipped his mind when they were driving home, and he was too zoned out that morning to remember to tell her anything.

After Zelos was certain Sheena wasn't following them or anywhere nearby, he finally stopped, still clutching Lloyd's hand in his and turning to look him in the eyes. Lloyd pretended not to know what was going on and blinked as innocently as he could up to Zelos, waiting for the redhead to say what he wanted to say.

"You know, I really don't like her sometimes," he huffed, obviously upset.

"Sheena is Sheena. That's just how she is," Lloyd said, shrugging his shoulders.

"But… don't you ever get the feeling that she… you know…," Zelos said, mumbling the last bit of his sentence.

"I know what?" Lloyd said, trying to act as if he didn't know where Zelos was trying to go with what he was going on about. "You're not making any sense."

"Well I… oh, never mind. I'm probably just worrying too much. Don't worry about it," Zelos said with a sigh. "Anyways, you remember that I'm supposed to owe you a nice little night out?" Lloyd nodded his head. "Well, I've got just the place all thought up and I was thinking I could just steal you away for the night and drop you off at your place after we're done."

"Wait, do you mean tonight?" Lloyd asked, concern in his voice. "I'm not entirely sure I can do that tonight."

"Well why not? Do you have work or something?" Zelos asked, his mouth curling down into a frown. "Cause you could just call in for one night. This place is really special and reservations are really, really hard to come by, especially on such short notice. I was lucky to actually get this tonight. Most people have to wait months to get a reservation at all. Lucky for us, someone called and cancelled right before I called to see when the closest time we could go together."

Lloyd was caught completely off guard by Zelos's words. He hadn't expected Zelos to go all out no something for him so quickly. The most he would've thought to happen was another nice picnic, minus any cinnamon flavored foods, or something at home while Lloyd wasn't supposed to work since he'd given his schedule over to Zelos.

"I, uh, well, I—"

"Why don't you let me talk to your manager? I could probably convince him to let you have tonight to yourself. Money tends to be pretty convincing, especially in large amounts," Zelos grinned. "So, what's his number?"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure that won't work," Lloyd frowned, imagining the chaos he'd cause if he gave Zelos his own number to call.

"And why would you say that? Money does make the world go round so to speak," Zelos grinned. "You know what I'm talking about don't you? Just let me have his number so I can convince him. It's really not all that hard."

The brunet shook his head. "Trust me Zel, it won't work. Just… uh, let me call him and if he doesn't let me take tonight off, I'll quit."

"That's what I'm talking about!" Zelos said, his grin widening as he watched Lloyd pull out his phone. "It's so hot when you take things into your own hands." The redhead paused a moment, something suddenly racing through his mind. "Did you just call me Zel?"

"… Yeah, what of it?" Lloyd shrugged as he speed dialed Sheena's number. He was very suddenly tackle hugged which nearly resulted in his phone being knocked right out of his hand. "Zelos! What are you doing!? I'm trying to talk to so- Hello?"

"What do you want?" Sheena's grouchy voice instantly answered over the phone. Her initial unpleasant demeanor caught the boy off guard and Lloyd wanted to ask her what was wrong, but that could possibly give away that he was talking to someone else other than someone who was supposed to be his manager. "I'm kinda busy talking to my other friends that actually want to know what's going on in my life."

"I'm not going to be able to make it in to work today. I'm not feeling well," Lloyd said, hoping Sheena would catch on despite being as grumpy as she was.

"Ugh, if this is because Zelos wants to spend more time with you just because I laughed at what he said earlier… I swear to Martel, that boy… fine. I'll call Sebastian up for you and let him know. Don't expect to get off so easy next time, brat," she said.

"I understand. Thank you so much. I'll try not to let it happen again," Lloyd said, trying to pry Zelos off of him. "Have a good day."

"Whatever," was the last thing Lloyd heard before the girl slammed her phone shut, ending the phone call as she did so.

He'd have to call her back once he and Zelos were done on their night out. She couldn't be that upset with him just because Zelos dragged him off and they weren't paying all that much attention to her once they'd arrived at school. If she had acted that way to Zelos, that would've made a little more sense to Lloyd, but he was baffled that she sounded so peeved with him when he'd hardly done anything wrong. She may have been quick to anger at times, but this was a little much for something so insignificant.

He would worry about that later though when it came time to worry about it. For now, he had to worry about whether or not Zelos was going to squeeze his guts out for clutching to his waist as tightly as he was.

"What in the world is with you?!" Lloyd said rather loudly as he shoved at the mop of red hair in an attempt to be released. "Zelos, people are looking at us!"

"That's because you're being too loud, Bud," Zelos said. "Not that I really mind any of the noises that come out of your mouth." Lloyd noticed a hawty little girn paint itself on Zelos's lips. "In my opinion, the louder the better."

"Oh, that's ENOUGH!" Lloyd snapped, his face pure scarlet.

"Heh, heh, is someone embarrassed?" Zelos chuckled, poking at his boyfriend's nose. "You are just so adorable when you're all flustered like that."

"If you don't quit it, I'm going to hurt you," Lloyd threatened, trying his best to hide his face the best he could. The whole process was proving to be a bit difficult since every time he managed to get his hands free, Zelos would just grab them pin them back to his sides. "Zelooossss…"

"Say it again," Zelos said softly.

"Say what again?"

"That name you called me just a little bit ago."

"Er… What are you-Do you mean Zel?"

As soon as he spoke the nickname, Lloyd felt all the air he'd been breathing instantly being pushed out of his lungs. Zelos was now squeezing Lloyd even harder than he was before, and the boy was starting to feel a little faint because of it. He tapped Zelos on the shoulder to grab his attention. Blue eyes looked up to brown and when they saw the color draining from the other's face, he immediately released him.

Once he was free, Lloyd collapsed to the ground, wheezing painfully to refill his lungs back up. Zelos knelt down and rubbed at Lloyd's back, a dorky smile still plastered on his face as if nothing had happened. After a while, once Lloyd was breathing properly, he shot a glare straight into Zelos's eyes. All he got in return was that goofy smile, which only pissed Lloyd off even more.

So, without warning, Lloyd shoved Zelos over onto his back and then followed up with a swift punch to the stomach. It had all happened so fast, the redhead had absolutely no time to prepare. The hit wasn't too terribly hard, but it was enough to make Zelos get the wind knocked out of him. It didn't take long for him to recover though, and when he did, he was quick to speak up.

"And you know I still adore you," Zelos said, grinning through a little bit of pain. "You do pack a harder punch than I thought you would."

"Yeah, well, you deserved it," Lloyd sighed, standing up and offering a hand down to Zelos. "The bell's gonna ring soon and I won't get to see you until lunch. I want a GENTLE hug before we have to part ways."

After hearing the request, Zelos instantly grabbed Lloyd's hand and stood up. He wouldn't let the opportunity pass him by since it wasn't too often Lloyd would ask for a sentimental moment or take some sort of action into his own hands, so Zelos was going to enjoy every second he could.

"Anything for you Bud," Zelos smiled, opening his arms to embrace the brunet.

"What, you not calling me hunny anymore?" Lloyd smirked, snuggling into Zelos's grasp.

"Oh, you want me to now?" Zelos smirked back, catching onto the hint of sarcasm in his voice. Lloyd just rolled his eyes. "Nah, I just think Bud fits you better. It's like you said before, you're not just one of the girls…"

"_You're so special to me,_" Zelos thought to himself, burying his face into Lloyd's thick brown hair. He loved the smell of it and how it tickled his nose just enough to bring a smile to his face. "_I really wish you knew just how much you mean to me. It's been a long time since I've cared so much about anyone…_"

"Zelos…," Lloyd spoke up, bringing the redhead from his thoughts. Blue eyes locked onto brown in question. "…I uh… well… thanks for being as awesome as you are. I… I really… really like…"

The brunet couldn't find the right words to finish what he was trying to say, and the longer he tried to think of what he wanted to say, the darker the blush on his face got, so he buried himself into Zelos's shirt to try and hide the coloring the best he could. Of course, Zelos didn't miss it, and he could feel his heart begin to race and his stomach start doing all sorts of back flips.

"Hey, hey… Why don't we save that for dinner tonight?" Zelos said near to a whisper. "Special words should be saved for special moments, don't you think?" He could feel Lloyd nodding his head onto his chest. "You are just so precious!"

And the excessive hugging continued until the bell rang, saving Lloyd from nearly passing out due to a lack of oxygen. Soon after, once Lloyd was done bickering at Zelos for nearly killing him in the middle of school, the two went their separate ways to make sure they weren't late for class, each of them eagerly looking forward to their dinner date with a smile on their face.

-After School-

"Yeah, I'm going to go out with Zelos tonight and then come straight home, I promise… Yeah, I know. I wasn't exactly social with him this morning. Could you just call him for me and let him know what's going on? I just don't want him freaking out if he comes home early for whatever reason and I'm not there after I'm supposed to be off work. You know how he can be sometimes… Thank you so much Yuan, you're the best," Lloyd said with a smile through the phone. Zelos nudged at him since HE wanted to be deemed "the best" when it came to Lloyd. The brunet just threw him a disapproving look. "Oh, don't worry about him. He'll be good, won't you Zelos?"

"I wouldn't count on it," Zelos answered loud enough for Yuan to hear and giving Lloyd a quick wink.

There were loud yelling noises suddenly heard at the other end of the line, forcing Lloyd to hold his phone out as far away from his ear as he could. That instantly resulted in a glare from Lloyd and all the boy got in return was Zelos's usual cocky and prideful grin paired with a shrug of the shoulders. Once the yelling stopped, Lloyd brought the phone back to his ear to calm Yuan down, despite having heard absolutely nothing he'd said.

"You know he doesn't mean it Yuan… Okay, well as long as you say you know that he didn't, I'll talk to you later… Yes, we'll be careful, don't worry… Okay, love you too, bye," Lloyd said, hanging his phone up. Zelos glanced over jealously at the phone as Lloyd put it away since he'd wanted Lloyd to say something like that to him instead. "You should really consider yourself lucky that I'm not smacking you for that."

"Oh, you know you like it," Zelos said, shaking off the envious look he was wearing. "It's who I am. I can't change that, can I?"

"…No, I suppose you can't," Lloyd mumbled, grinning playfully when Zelos pouted and nudged his shoulder again. "I wouldn't want you to change anyways." That seemed to perk Zelos up to his usual happy mood. "So you never did mention where we were going tonight."

"Nothing too fancy," Zelos said quickly.

"You said the waiting list is months Zelos. Don't be that way with me," Lloyd said with a frown. "I might be slow, but I'm not stupid. Where are we going?"

"I can't tell you. That would ruin all the fun in it!" Zelos said, leading Lloyd out to his car. He immediately noticed Lloyd peeking around in the front seat to try and spot where Sebastian was, which in turn made Zelos smile. "Something wrong, Bud?"

"… Where's Sebastian?"

"I've decided to let him have the day off. I'll be escorting you out tonight," Zelos replied.

Lloyd looked over to Zelos in disbelief. "You can drive?"

"Hey now, I got my license when I was fourteen. I'm very capable of driving. And it's not like I've ever seen you drive."

"That's because I don't have my own car. If my dad needs his car and I'm at school, well, long story short, it doesn't end up very nicely for either of us. So either he or Yuan will drive me to and from school and to wherever else I need to go," Lloyd shrugged. "I have my driver's license too, so there."

"You'll have to show it to me sometime or I'll never believe you," Zelos said, opening the driver side door and sliding into his seat. "Your picture has got to be absolutely stunning with as sexy as you are… It's got to be better than mine at least."

"Ah hah," was all Lloyd said as he sat in the passenger seat and closed his door behind him.

"What, is it really that bad?"

"Let's just say you're never going to see that picture of me, EVER," Lloyd said with a tone of finality and shaking his head back and forth as vigorously as he could. "And don't ask about it again. I'm not changing my mind unless my new one when I turn 21 is better… and if that one's bad too, don't ask then either."

"Well how am I supposed to know if it's bad then?"

"You just will."

"Come on, I'm sure it's not THAT bad. How about if I let you look at mine? Would you let me look at it then?" Zelos asked as he started the car. "Let me get it out."

"Don't bother. I won't show you no matter what," Lloyd said. "I won't, I won't, I won't. And don't even think about trying to find it on me. I don't carry it with me and I don't keep it in my room."

"You're no fun, Bud," Zelos pouted. "Well, I'm sure you're really loads of fun in other aspects"-he paused to chuckle a moment—"but come on. I've got to see it eventually."

"Nope. I'm not changing my mind."

"Well fine then," Zelos sighed. "Anyways, we're gonna drop by my place and change real fast since it's a pretty fancy restaurant and our reservations aren't for another two hours." Zelos glanced over at Lloyd, flashing a smile and raising an eyebrow. "A chance to see you naked again without the shower steam to hide your more alluring features would be wonderful… plus I love seeing you in my clothes. Some of that stuff is down right sexy on your hot little body."

Lloyd threw another one of his disapproving stares over to the redhead who just smiled and started driving. He was only being honest after all.

-At the restaurant-

Just before reaching their destination, Zelos had demanded that Lloyd put on a blindfold to make sure he couldn't see what was going on until they had actually walked into the restaurant. The boy had made a comment about how Zelos sure seemed to be into some sort of bondage thing or another, making the redhead laugh some, though he neither confirmed or denied it. Once the blindfold was securely on, Zelos sped up to get to where they needed to be, parked and hurried to help Lloyd out of the car so he wouldn't trip and hurt himself.

"When can I take it off?" Lloyd groaned, anxious to see just where Zelos had taken him.

"Patience young grasshopper. You'll see soon enough," Zelos grinned. "I do hope that you like it."

Soon enough, the reached the entrance and Zelos was just about to remove the blindfold to reveal where they were until he saw the person who was going to greet them once inside. When their eyes met and Zelos reluctantly confirmed he hadn't seen the wrong person, he mentally swore and clutched to Lloyd's hands tightly. He most certainly wasn't expecting to see who he saw waiting for them.

"Ah, why hellow Zelos," Cayn smiled. "I see you've brought you're adorable little date by tonight."

"Haha, yeah, uhm…"

"I'm sorry, how rude of me. I'm assuming you have a reservation, otherwise you wouldn't be here. Let me go check the list so I can take you to your seats," Cayn said through a hollow grin. "You should let him take the blindfold off by the way. The main hall is probably the most impressive part of the entire restaurant."

Zelos was very hesitant to remove the cloth upon remembering what Cayn had said to him at the hospital when they went to visit Yuan, but since the man had said the entrance was "impressive", which Zelos couldn't truly deny, Lloyd was getting antsy and trying to take the blindfold off himself. It didn't seem like Cayn was going to leave until Lloyd had seen the entrance anyways, so Zelos sighed and removed the blindfold for Lloyd.

Once his eyes had adjusted to the light after being covered for so long, Lloyd's jaw dropped as his eyes tried to look at everything at once. Right in front of them was a large fountain with a statue of the goddess Martel sitting on a pillar of clouds holding her hands out as water poured from them endlessly. Beautifully crafted angels with silver wings were scattered all around the outside of the fountain and the cloud pillar holding basins that poured water back into the fountain as well. Lloyd ran over to get a better look and started to yell over to Zelos to look at the intricate gold designs at the bottom of the pool of water.

"He's certainly cuter in person than any person could ever describe through any amount of words," Cayn spoke as he gazed off at the brunet who was now dancing around the fountain. Zelos shot a dangerous looking glare at the older man. "It's rude to look at other people you hardly know with such intense hatred you know. But I'll leave you two alone for a moment and go check the list and see where I need to take you."

Cayn walked off to go check the table layout, signaling Zelos to walk over to Lloyd to keep a better eye on him. The last thing Zelos needed was for something to happen to Lloyd while he was supposed to be under his care and for Yuan to flip out on him and unleash the oh-so-dreaded wrath of Kratos.

"Zelos! Zelos! They have gold FISH in here! And look at the ceilings! They're all painted with such beautiful pictures! Look at all the angels—Oh! Goddess Martel is right over there! I've always thought she looked so pretty, don't you?" Lloyd asked, glancing up to Zelos with a huge smile on his face and his eyes twinkling brighter than any star in the night sky. "What is this place?! It's absolutely amazing!"

"This nice little restaurant is a place known to many as The Goddess's Hideout, but it's more lovingly called 'Martel's Garden'. Maybe you've heard of it?" Zelos spoke, smiling softly down at his boyfriend.

Lloyd's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "You… You brought me to… Oh my Goddess Zelos! Everything here is so expensive though! Y-you can't pay for something so nice just for me! This… This is…"

"Well, of course I can spend my money how I want to, Bud. You're worth every last penny and more.'

"But I—"

"You should let him do what he wants for you," Cayn's voice came up, spooking Lloyd momentarily. "You should let him spoil you rotten while he still wants to. It's not like he doesn't have the money to."

Brown eyes blinked owlishly up at the stranger as a small blush came to his cheeks. He wasn't too sure what to say to this new person he'd never met before who seemed too friendly and way too familiar to him right off the bat. He'd even made a grab at Zelos's hand for a moment to try and hide behind him for reassurance. Zelos frowned at Cayn for scaring Lloyd, and the man couldn't help but to smile at the scene unfolding right before him.

"Sorry to have startled you sirs. I'm here to guide you to your table," Cayn said, bowing as low as he could to make his apology seem more sincere. "I'll also be taking care of you tonight since you're sitting over in the area that I take care of. My name is Cayn by the way."

Zelos clenched his free hand as he felt it tremble with anger. Surely something was wrong and Cayn was planning something that he wasn't going to like. But before he could so much as say anything about it, Lloyd let go of Zelos's hand and came back from behind the redhead and smiled at the stranger standing in front of them.

"It's nice to meet you Cayn," Lloyd said, reaching his arm out to shake the other's hand. "My name is Lloyd."

"The pleasure is all mine, Lloyd," Cayn said as he grabbed the brunet's hand and planted a kiss on the top of it. At a loss for words, Lloyd just stood there helplessly not knowing what to do as all the blood rushed to his face. "Such a lovely color…"

Not being able to stand anymore of what was going on, Zelos broke the connection Lloyd and Cayn were sharing by pushing himself between the two and pulling Lloyd's hand into his. There was a very momentary smirk on Cayn's face, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared and morphed into a friendlier sort of smile.

"Well, let's get you two to your table and start you off with a nice glass of water and some menus," Cayn said, walking past the two, expecting them to follow. "I don't know how you did it Zelos, but you got the best spot in the whole building on the second floor with a lovely view of the whole town. You must have called at just the right time."

"I got lucky," was all Zelos said as he followed Cayn and made sure Lloyd stayed behind him as he did.

"Yes…," Cayn said. "Well here is your table gentleman. Would you like anything other than water to drink?"

"No thank you," Zelos said quickly as they say down at their small table, trying to hurry Cayn away so they could look at their menus in peace.

"Now, now, I'm sure Lloyd isn't quite a water person. How about some hot chocolate with marshmallows?" Cayn asked, turning his attention to the youngest.

"Wow, it's like you knew that's my favorite drink," Lloyd said, showing surprise as he spoke.

Zelos looked over at Cayn suspiciously, but the man just smiled and said, "I've got a talent for knowing what people like. Would you want some caramel and whipped cream as well?"

"Oh yes please!" Lloyd responded, his face lighting up happily. "You're really cool, you know that?!"

"Heh," Cayn laughed, noticing how irritated Zelos was getting. "I do try. I'll be right back with your drink my dear." He looked at Zelos again. "Are you sure I can't interest you in a glass of strawberry lemonade?"

"No. Take your creepy ass predicting everyone's favorite drink shit somewhere else," Zelos growled, not even trying to hide his hatred from Lloyd at this point.

"Zelos," Lloyd frowned. "I'm sorry Cayn. He's not usually like this."

"Oh, it's quite all right. Not everyone likes when I do my little… guessing game," Cayn said, turning his attention back to Lloyd. "Be sure to look at our specials listed on the menus next to the napkin holder. They are quite delicious, just as you are."

Not leaving any opportunity for either boy to respond, Cayn walked off to take care of Lloyd's drink order as well as another customer nearby. Lloyd immediately turned to Zelos with a frown on his face, making the redhead glance elsewhere across the room.

"What in the world is with you?" Lloyd asked, reaching past the small candle in the middle of the table to grab at Zelos's hand. "He's probably like that with all the rest of his customers. It probably really helps with the tip."

"Well he's most certainly not getting one from us," Zelos growled, still not making eye contact with Lloyd. "I don't like him, and you shouldn't either."

"Zelos!" Lloyd spoke loudly. "Stop it! You told me tonight would be special, and you're certainly not letting it go that way…"

Lloyd released Zelos's hand and started to slink back into his chair, but Zelos wasn't too keen on letting that happen. He instantly reached back to grab Lloyd's hand, almost knocking his glass of water over in the process, and squeezed it affectionately. Lloyd sighed, hung his head and returned the action with a squeeze of his own.

"Tonight is going to be special, Bud. I promise you," Zelos said quietly. "I'm sorry… I… I guess I don't like him treating you the way he is." A shy smile made its way to Lloyd's face. "I just want you all to myself and I can't imagine someone stealing you away from me because they use smoother words and actions than I do. I won you over fair and square, and I just don't want anybody to try and take you away. I'm trying my best to impress you Lloyd, I really am. That's why I took you to the best place in town that I could think of. I couldn't stand someone outdoing me. I want to be the one you've wanted your whole life…"

And Zelos had never been more sincere towards anyone with words like that in his life. His eyes pleaded forgiveness over how he'd acted just moments ago towards someone Lloyd had just met. He didn't want to upset Lloyd to the point that they'd start fighting and something horrible happen because of it. Zelos knew if that happened he'd never be able to forgive himself if he let someone so perfect for him slip right through his fingers.

"I don't know Zelos…," Lloyd said, putting a finger to his mouth in thought. "You sure were being a bit of an ass earlier. You'd better make me some damn good hot chocolate the next time I come over for a visit to make up for it… and you'd better make sure you be nice to our waiter, no matter how flirty he gets. Who knows, if you behave, I might just treat you to something nice once we're done here."

Even if the reward wasn't as sexual as Zelos would've hoped in the end, the redhead absolutely loved how Lloyd had said what he just said. It was a shame they were in public, otherwise he'd have had the brunet pinned down on the table smother his neck with kisses and teasing the crap out of him the best he could. And the way he'd raised his eyebrow as he spoke made it feel like the pants Zelos was wearing had suddenly tightened on him.

"Goddess you are just SO sexy, it shouldn't be legal," Zelos grinned, unfolding his napkin with his free hand and setting it in his lap. "I don't know how you can pull off being as adorable as you are and then suddenly turn around and say something as arousing as that."

"Stop it," Lloyd laughed as his face reddened. "We should look at our menus before he gets back and bothers us again."

"Heh, I know what I want for dinner," Zelos said, licking his lips seductively at Lloyd.

"Really? You already looked at your menu?!" Lloyd asked, purely stunned.

"Oh, such a mood killer," Zelos chuckled. "You really shouldn't do things like that to me. One of these days I may not be able to hold myself back, even if we are in a public place."

"You hold back?" Lloyd teased. "I certainly couldn't tell."

"Believe me babe. With someone as cute as you around, what I've done to you already is absolutely nothing." Zelos pointed to something on the menu under the appetizer section. "Have you ever tried fried pickles?" Lloyd shook his head back and forth, a slightly repulsed look on his face. "They're actually really good. We should get those to start off with. And we have to dip them in ranch. Oh, you're going to love them."

The two went on for a while as they waited for Lloyd's hot chocolate, gathering the attention of a few nearby customers. One elderly couple just smiled at the two and how happy they'd seemed together while another younger couple, older than the boys, turned their noses up in disgust at how close they were. The thoughts of the people around them however went by completely unnoticed as the two became lost in their moment of admiration of each other.

Soon enough, the hot chocolate they'd been waiting on arrived and Lloyd eagerly reached for it. And before Cayn could say anything unnecessary to Lloyd, Zelos spoke up to order their appetizer with two sides of ranch and immediately shooed him away so he could get as much Lloyd time as he could. He could tell Cayn wasn't particularly pleased with that, but the man didn't argue as to not grab any unwanted attention from nearby customers since so many were already looking at the duo he was serving.

"Look at how fancy this is, Zel!" Lloyd said in awe at his hot chocolate. The whipped cream had been twirled up perfectly with caramel drizzled over in a zigzagged fashion. "I don't think I can drink this! It's too perfect."

"Heh, well you know it's all going to melt over if you don't start drinking it soon," Zelos chuckled, putting his straw into the hot chocolate as well. "Plus it'll be all gone if you don't hurry up."

"Hey!" Lloyd said, shooing Zelos away from his hot drink with his hand. "I'll share with you, but I've got to at least have the first drink!"

Zelos just laughed at the brunet and pulled back to simply watch. He leaned his head on his wrist, smiling when Lloyd took his first sip and just about melted into his seat. Lloyd went on for a few minutes, saying how wonderful the place was Zelos had taken them to and how he'd have to do something for him sometime. Of course, Zelos expected nothing in return other than for Lloyd to have a good time and make sure he was happy. The longer he gazed at the boy, the longer Zelos wondered how he'd gotten so lucky to have someone as perfect as Lloyd in his life.

"You look really great tonight," Lloyd said shyly when he noticed all Zelos was doing was staring.

"Oh please. I'm nothing compared to you, Bud. You chose out the perfect clothes for yourself," Zelos replied.

"Yeah, but you don't need to dress up to look nice," Lloyd said. Zelos quickly noticed the small blush on the boy's face. "You just are…"

Reaching out to grab both of Lloyd's hands in his, Zelos placed a gentle kiss on each, loving the feeling of finally being able to feel the boy's skin on his except for the small band-aid covering up the small scab Lloyd had left on his hand. He then gazed longingly up into Lloyd's eyes, catching the other off guard with the sincerity of emotion being thrown at him.

"Lloyd," Zelos said softly, still grasping the boy's hands in his. "You are the most amazing person I've ever met in my life. I actually wonder why you would even think to choose someone like me to spend your time with… I'm sure all the stuff you heard about me before we'd started going out was more than enough to deter you from wanting to meet me, but here you are, your hands in mine, sitting out with me at the nicest restaurant in town and I honestly wonder why. It's not like I'm the nicest person in the world, or the kindest… I never thought I had room in my heart for anyone to be honest." Lloyd felt his face growing hot and was having a hard time keeping eye contact with Zelos after a while. "But Lloyd, I want you to know that you mean the world to me. I know we haven't even known each other that long, but I mean it. Now that I have you, I can't imagine a life without you somewhere nearby." Zelos reached a hand out to cradle Lloyd's face. "Lloyd, I… I lo—"

"I apologize to interrupt such a touching moment, but I've got your appetizer together," Cayn very suddenly spoke up, startling Lloyd so much the boy had almost fallen from his chair. "Again, I do apologize."

"I'm sure you mean it," Zelos mumbled, rubbing at the top of his forehead. "We're not really ready to order yet either, so could you just come back later?"

"But of course," Cayn said. "Do take your time."

Once the man was out of ear shock, Zelos couldn't help but to roll his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh, still rubbing at his forehead. He looked up to Lloyd to see what he was doing, and instead of trying the new food that was brought out or sipping on his hot chocolate, he had his face covered up by his hands, setting off red flags in Zelos's mind.

"Are you okay, Lloyd?" Zelos asked, scooting his chair over to Lloyd's to better see what was going on. Lloyd just nodded out his answer wordlessly. "Lloyd, let me see your face." Again, just another silent answer, except this time Lloyd shook his head to answer 'no'. "Bud, come on, what's bugging you?"

"I'm okay," Lloyd finally spoke. Zelos sighed in relief when he realized his voice wasn't shaky as if he were crying. Lloyd then peeked one of his eyes through his fingers to look at Zelos. "Y… you really do… like me don't you?"

Zelos smiled gently and brought his mouth up to Lloyd's ear. "I love you, Lloyd," he whispered, kissing the sensitive skin as soon as he said what he wanted to say. "And don't ever let anyone make you think otherwise."

"Z-Zelos…," Lloyd stuttered, revealing his face at last. Zelos smiled at how red Lloyd's cheeks were and placed a kiss on the cheek he was closest too, making him, if it was even possible, go even redder than he was before.

"Let's take a look at our menus so we can get something to eat," Zelos said, moving his chair back to where it was originally placed. "I hear they have the best pasta dishes here. I already know what I'm getting."

Lloyd blinked a few times, wondering how Zelos could have decided so quickly, but kept his mouth closed and looked through the pasta section as Zelos had suggested. The boy's eyes widened at the list of prices next to every dish, but after glancing around the whole menu, the pasta and appetizers were the least expensive on the list. Zelos had mentioned the pastas on purpose because he knew Lloyd would feel bad asking for something super expensive, not that Zelos wouldn't be able to pay for it.

"Th… the pasta is all twenty-five dollars and more…," Lloyd gaped, reading the prices over a few more times.

"Stop looking at the prices, Bud. You know I could buy us the whole menu three times over and still be able to afford to pay Sebastian and Dolly," Zelos said, waving his hand around as he spoke. "We're here to enjoy ourselves, not get you all worried about how much the night is going to cost us when you're not even paying for it."

"I know," Lloyd sighed. "So what are you getting?"

"The baked salmon steak," Zelos replied, licking his lips. "Oh, that is to die for…" Lloyd tried to locate it on the menu, and when Zelos noticed that he was looking for it, he caught on to what the other was trying to do. "You'll give yourself an ulcer looking at the price if you think the pasta is expensive, Bud. Just order what you want and don't worry about it, okay?"

A sigh escaped the boy's lips as he listened to Zelos's words and resumed looking at the pasta side of the menu. Most of the dishes listed were just a little too fancy for Lloyd's tastes, but when he scrolled down more and noticed the word "tortellini", he couldn't help but to pause and read the description.

"You find something you like?" Zelos asked, chuckling. "You're starting to drool."

"… The three cheese tortellini with chicken sounds good," Lloyd said, peeking up at Zelos over his menu.

"Well, good," Zelos smiled, taking the menu from Lloyd's hands so that he couldn't look at the prices anymore and possibly stumble across how much his own meal was going to cost. "Are you going to get a soup, salad or baked potato with it?"

"What kind of soups do they have?" Lloyd asked, his eyes hopeful for something good.

"Our specials on soups today are Tomato Basil, Broccoli Cheddar, and Clam Chowder," Cayn's voice spoke up yet again, this time not scaring Lloyd as badly as he did before. "Of course, we do have other soups, such as—"

"The Broccoli Cheddar one sounds really good," Lloyd said.

"It's quite the side dish if I do say so myself. I'm assuming you two are ready to order?" Not wanting to upset Lloyd by saying anything too terribly rude, Zelos just nodded. "Okay then, what would you like to have tonight?" The question was directed at the redhead.

"I'll have the baked salmon steak, medium, and please put the lemon on the side. I'll have the house salad with Thousand Island dressing, and please, for the love of Martel, PLEASE hold the cucumbers," Zelos said quickly so Cayn could get out of their way faster.

"Alrighty then, I'll be sure to put extra cucumbers on there just for you," Cayn grinned, resulting in Zelos rolling his eyes and turning away from the waiter to look at Lloyd. "And for you my darling?"

"Uhm, could I have the three cheese tortellini with chicken?" Lloyd asked quietly.

"But of course. Would you like marinara, or alfredo sauce?" Cayn asked with his usual smile.

"Marinara please."

"And your side will be Broccoli Cheddar soup. Okay, it'll be a while before their done, but you two haven't even started on your appetizer yet, so the wait shouldn't be too terrible," Cayn said. He then turned to Zelos. "Keep a close eye on him tonight. You never know when someone may just snatch him up."

Zelos's fingers twitched, clearly agitated at what the man had just said, but kept his mouth shut and grabbed at Lloyd's hand. Cayn shook his head, grinned sadistically, and turned around to help a nearby customer that wanted their drink refilled.

"I'm sorry, Bud. He's making it really hard to be nice to him," Zelos mumbled. "He's just one of those people… I suppose."

Zelos hadn't mentioned Cayn's name to the other when he was talking about Yuan's exboyfriend, but he was getting close to telling Lloyd as they ate, but thought it to be better to save something like that when they weren't out on a date as special as this one. So he just squeezed Lloyd's hand lovingly and then grabbed a fried pickle spear, dipped it in ranch and held it out to Lloyd's mouth.

"I'll try not to worry about him for your sake though," Zelos said. "Now, I did mean that these things are absolutely delicious. You do like pickles right?" Lloyd nodded, eyeing the food Zelos was pushing into Lloyd's face. "Well then you're going to love this. Now open your mouth and take a bite."

There was a moment of pause as Lloyd stared down the fried food, trying to determine if it would be safe to eat it. The food just innocently sat in Zelos's hand, some ranch dripping off the end of it for having stayed levitated for too long. Finally, after thinking it through, Lloyd shyly opened his mouth to allow Zelos to place the pickle in his mouth. Zelos smiled when that happened, and gently put a portion of the pickle into Lloyd's mouth. Lloyd bit down and the pickle made the classic crunch noise it was well known for and Zelos waited to see just how Lloyd liked it. Not long after he'd taken the first bite, Zelos heard noises of delight as Lloyd finished up what he had in his mouth.

"So, do you like it?" Zelos asked even though he already knew the answer to what he'd just asked.

"I've definitely got to talk to Yuan about making these sometime for a snack or something. I can't believe how delicious these are!" Lloyd swooned as Zelos dipped the pickle into ranch again to give the boy another bite. "Thank you so much for taking me here, Zelos."

"See, I told you you'd like it," Zelos grinned.

"You remember the last time you told me that I'd like something? I didn't end up liking it very much, remember? That horrible cinnamon monstrosity?" Lloyd said, raising his eyebrow as he took another offer bite.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Zelos said, shrugging his shoulders. "All I know is that I was right and you are absolutely in love with fried pickles dipped in ranch. Tell me I'm wrong, I dare you. And I know you won't because I know I'm right."

The two went on with each other for a while and once or twice, Zelos had tried to make a sexual reference to the pickles Lloyd was eating, but each time the concept went right over his head. Zelos didn't mind too much, especially since the boy's innocence was one of his favorite qualities, but the redhead also very much enjoyed when Lloyd would become overly flustered and turn all shades of red imaginable.

Not too long after the two finished up their appetizer, their soup and salad were brought out, and once Cayn was gone, the two happily ate through their food and continued to talk with each other. For the most part, the boys were asking questions about one another to get to know the other better. It helped Zelos to figure out some nicer things to get for Lloyd when the time came to get something else for him, but it also helped to paint a better picture of who Lloyd was and how he lived his life, and Zelos was loving every bit he heard.

"So my dad, like we've been trying to tell you, has always been so defensive with me. When my mom was still alive I vaguely remember him being much… well, happier. She was a beautiful person in more ways than just looks, you know. Occasionally, my dad will pull out a home video of her… she always seemed to be just a happy, friendly person," Lloyd sighed. "Dad says I've got her smile… but I think it makes him upset every time—"

"Oh, no you don't," Zelos frowned. The other boy cocked his head in confusion at the words. "Special nights are for making happy and special memories, like your newly found favorite food. I want you to remember this night for the rest of your life as one of the best dates we'll ever have, okay Bud?"

Lloyd smiled. "Okay, Zel. Oh, look! I think he's finally bringing our dinner out!"

Zelos glanced over behind him to check if Cayn was coming with the main course, and as Lloyd had said, there the man was, balancing a medium sized tray that was jut large enough for the both of the plates. Another, much younger waiter that couldn't have been much older than Zelos, had followed behind Cayn to put the stand up to hold their tray of food so Cayn could serve it without too much of a hassle. Once the tray was all set up, the younger waiter smiled and left.

"A medium baked salmon steak with a lemon on the side to do with as you wish for Zelos, and the tortellini for adorable little Lloyd," Cay said as Zelos mocked him by moving his hand like a puppet as he spoke. The older man completely ignored the action and continued to look straight at Lloyd. "So how is everything tonight?"

"It's absolutely wonderful," Lloyd said with a friendly smile, wafting the smell of his chicken tortellini pasta into his nose. "Thank you so much."

"Of course," Cayn said, suddenly grabbing Lloyd's chin and tilting it up so he could get a better look at his face. "As adorable as you are, I do believe I've heard some pretty alluring rumors about you."

"I-I… about me?" Lloyd asked, completely flabbergasted someone he'd never met had heard about him. Surely he didn't mean him. There had to be plenty of other Lloyds out there. "W-What'd you hear?"

Cayn leaned in dangerously close to Lloyd, a bloodcurdling smile on his face that made Lloyd's stomach clench uncomfortably. Zelos was about to make a grab at Cayn but the man quickly turned Lloyd's head so he could whisper into his ear.

"I know your secret my dear little Dolly," he said so only Lloyd could hear, and then moved away just in time to dodge the spoon that was headed to smack him right in the face. "Best be careful. Now, do enjoy your dinner…"

End of Chapter

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I must say I enjoyed it much better than I did the last one. (_ _ ;;;) That could just be me though since you guys seemed to like it. I like this one a bit more… it's a tad bit more suspenseful and… fun. (and probably a little better written) :'D  
But to answer one question that I noticed to help put your mind at ease, lulz, yes, Kratos is the uke. ^^; I just prefer to call their relationship "Kruan" because it's a lot more pleasing to say than… er… Yutos? I'm pretty sure that the name is just for the coupling though and I'm pretty sure it could go either way, so no worries. I'll be working on the next chapter as soon as I'm done with Dead Space P: Oh, and if any of you own xbox live and play Dead Space, I totally need a Co-op partner to play with. Just inbox me and I'll give you my gamertag. Well, even if you don't play Dead Space and you still have xbox live, I won't mind adding you :'D I'm pretty lonely atm.**


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